Second Russian defence ministry official arrested amid Kremlin shake-up

Russian Lt Gen Yury Kuznetsov is seen during a military parade in a Russian military academy in Krasnodar, Russia (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/AP)

A second senior Russian defence official has been arrested on bribery charges, officials said on Tuesday, days after President Vladimir Putin replaced the defence minister in a Cabinet shake-up that fuelled expectations of more such purges.

Lt Gen Yury Kuznetsov, the 55-year-old chief of the Defence Ministry’s main personnel directorate, was arrested in a raid on his suburban Moscow villa on Monday, Russian media reported.