RUSSIA: A deputy head of the Russian general staff has been arrested on charges of large-scale bribery, local media reported today, becoming the latest high-ranking military official to be detained for alleged corruption.

The arrest of Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin followed the detentions this week of Major General Ivan Popov, a former top commander of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, also on bribery charges.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that the wave of arrests did not indicate a campaign against the military, saying: “The fight against corruption is consistent work.”