Criminal case initiated against chief of staff of Southern Military District of Russia

A criminal case has been initiated against Lieutenant-General Nikolai Pereslegin, Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Southern Military District, Yuga.ru reports.

Lieutenant-General Alexander Bespalov, Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the North-Caucasus Military District, organized performance reviews of his deputies in March 2010. Colonel Alexander Verigin, Chief of Communications, Deputy Chief of Staff of the NCMD, was approved for the position.

Major-General Nikolai Pereslegin was appointed as the Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the NCMD in April 2010. Investigators say that Pereslegin gave negative reviews for Colonel Verigin only to appoint his own person to the position.

Verigin was unaware of the reviews and was surprised by the decision of the Central Certification Committee of the Russian Defense Ministry to dismiss him.