Troops in Russia’s Far East were fed dog food to cover up for the theft of thousands of dollars worth of food, military prosecutors said on Monday.
Ex-Major Igor Matveyev posted a video on the Internet earlier this month accusing Interior Ministry officers of feeding troops dog food from tins labeled “high-quality beef” at his garrison in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.
Regional Interior Ministry officials say they discovered in an audit in April that the officer in charge of food supplies at the Vladivostok military unit stole food to the value of more than 1 million rubles ($35,490) and replaced it with tins of dog food.
Criminal charges have been opened against the officer.
The whistleblower, who fought in two wars against Chechen rebels in the 1990s, was dismissed for the video, which also alleges widespread corruption in the Russian armed forces.
Prosecutors also found that illegal foreign workers were living in the garrison and carrying out construction work on its territory.
President Dmitry Medvedev has named corruption as one of the biggest problems facing Russia’s security services.
The Interior Ministry is currently undergoing unpopular reforms aimed at restructuring its officer and troop structure.
VLADIVOSTOK, May 23 (RIA Novosti)