Putin Dismisses Defence Minister

A file photo shows Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov at a NATO / Russia Defence Ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 08 June 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed the country's defence minister after the ministry was caught up in a corruption scandal.

Anatoly Serdyukov has been replaced with a former emergencies minister and loyal ally to Putin, Sergei Shoigu.

Russia's top investigative agency is investigating the sale of ministry assets at prices below market value.

Putin said he had removed Serdyukov to create "conditions for an objective investigation".

Last month, Russian investigators raided the offices of a defence ministry firm and began investigating the company on suspicion that it had sold assets to commercial firms at a loss of nearly USD 100 M.

Serdyukov's relationship with a former top military bureaucrat is also being looked into as part of the inquiry.

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