A RUSSIAN general in charge of Vladimir Putin’s feared “Satan-2” nukes has been dramatically arrested in a fraud scandal rocking Moscow.
Lieutenant General Oleg Frolov, 61, the deputy director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, was held along with two other alleged co-conspirators.
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The Putin crony has been accused of playing a role in a play to steal £4million from the Russian state – which is known to be rife with corruption.
It comes after a spate of high-profile deaths in the Moscow elite, with reports that “spy mania” and paranoia had taken hold in the Kremlin.
Dozens of influential business, military and political leaders have been killed or detained since the start of Vlad’s war in Ukraine.
Frolov’s arrest also follows the mystery death by “asphyxia” of Evgeny Postrigan, a space exec who was working on another top secret project for Putin.
Frolov, who has been pictured with Putin, was responsible for the Russian state weapons programme at Roscosmos.
He saw the development and production of the latest weapons – like the delayed Satan-2, known in Moscow as Sarmat.
It is the world’s biggest ballistic missile, a 208-ton doomsday intercontinental nuclear weapon, the size of a 14-storey tower block.
Putin has hailed the missile as “unstoppable” – as it flies into space before dropping its payload onto his enemies.
Supposedly due to go on “combat duty” this month, there are also rumours the apocalypse missile has not been properly tested and may be delayed until the end of 2024.
“Frolov used his office to conspire with two other co-participants in the crime,” said a statement from the Russian Investigative Committee.
“During the performance of a contract, they stole at least 435 million roubles of public funds [£3.7 million] intended for the purchase of equipment.”
If convicted he and his alleged co-conspirators could face up to ten years in jail.
Frolov was also involved with “meteorite” nuclear-capable hypersonic missile Avangard – another new agency Putin hypersonic weapons- which delivers missiles to targets at 27 times the speed of sound.
Investigators are probing the full extent of the alleged fraud involving Frolov who formerly served in Russia’s missile forces.
Detained, too, in apparently the same case was Yevgeny Fomichev.
He is the director of research at Geophysics-Cosmos, a company that develops weapons guidance systems for Vlad’s missiles.
Fomichev is believed to have worked closely with Frolov.
He is also pals with the director of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, a former Russian deputy prime minister, and his Putin-friendly predecessor Dmitry Rogozin, who dodged an assassination attempt last December.
The identity of the third alleged co-conspirator has not been released.
Earlier this week, Evgeny Postrigan, 50, chief accountant of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems company, closely linked to Geophysics-Cosmos and the Russian space agency, was found dead “from asphyxia” in Zheleznogorsk.
His body was reportedly found by his wife in his garage the day after he had gone out, said reports citing law enforcement.
While suicide is suspected, investigations are ongoing into the cause of death.
Zheleznogorsk is a town closed to foreigners and others without permission to enter.
It was established 2,600 miles east of Moscow by Kremlin dictator Stalin in 1950 to produce weapons-grade plutonium,.
It has multiple nuclear facilities built inside caverns excavated in a granite mountain, as well as space research enterprises.
Postrigan’s company had been sanctioned over the war by the US, Switzerland, Japan and Ukraine.
The satellite company was “vital to Russia’s defence capabilities” and was part of the country’s space agency.
US sanctions listings say the Reshetnev satellite company “supported Russian government space systems that the Russian military uses to perpetrate its war against Ukraine”.
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