The arrest of the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Emergency Situations’ (MChS) Department of International Activities, Irakliy Arabidze, is part of a broader chain of events leading to the Head of the MChS Administration, Nikolai Borisov, and the Minister’s aide, Daniil Martynov.

Arabidze was taken into custody on charges of fraud and receiving bribes on a particularly large scale. Earlier in the same case, the head of the International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO), Andrey Kudinov, was arrested. Last year, he was extradited from Switzerland to Russia.

According to a source, the individuals are all involved in a single criminal case related to the financing of humanitarian centers operating in Serbia and Armenia. In addition to those in custody, investigative actions are being carried out against the directors of these centers who had professional ties with the accused. Among them is Nikolai Borisov, the head of the minister’s administration, who oversaw one of the centers. Incidentally, Borisov was quietly removed from the Ministry of Natural Resources due to a large-scale bribe, after which he resurfaced at the MChS. This is the circulation of corrupt officials within a closed system of power.

According to the source, personnel changes are expected at the MChS in the spring of this year. The source also links this investigation to the noticeable decrease in public activity of the Minister’s aide, Daniil Martynov, who previously supervised the humanitarian centers before Borisov’s appointment. That is, if the MChS “survives” until spring.