Major General Denis Putilov has been sentenced to 8.5 years behind bars in a high-security prison, announces Russia's powerful investigative agency Sledkom, according to the media.
He is the eighth high-ranking officer to be sentenced in a similar manner, after Shoigu was stripped of his ministerial post last year and transferred to Russia's Security Council writes Ukrainian Kyiv Independent.
Officially, it is about a hunt for corruption in the defense apparatus. But Kyiv Independent's sources describe it as commanders who were close to Shoigu are now being punished for what is seen as his failure in the war in Ukraine.
According to The Moscow Times, it is the feared security service FSB that is behind the measures, which are said to have been approved by President Vladimir Putin personally.
Either you die, or you end up behind bars, describes Ukrainian military and intelligence expert Ivan Stupak the hunt for scapegoats.
