A Moscow military court ordered Major General Sergei Nikitushkin held in pretrial detention on Wednesday evening. The 235th Garrison Military Court issued the ruling in a criminal case whose details were not disclosed.
Sergei Nikitushkin, 51, heads the department responsible for training facilities and equipment within the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Directorate of Combat Training. That directorate oversees troop training, develops training infrastructure and supplies equipment used to prepare soldiers for combat.
Sergei Nikitushkin and the Main Directorate
President Vladimir Putin promoted Nikitushkin to major general in December 2024. In June, Putin appointed Colonel General Rustam Muradov to lead the Main Directorate of Combat Training. Nikitushkin’s work has included modernizing tank training grounds in Russia, according to the Baza Telegram channel.
Nikitushkin previously said that insufficient funding limited purchases of simulators for troops training on armored vehicles, communications equipment, drones and night-vision devices. He said that "the war in Ukraine had demonstrated the importance of such equipment in preparing soldiers for future combat."
Patriot Park and prior cases
The Main Directorate of Combat Training also oversees Patriot Park, a military exhibition complex near Moscow that has been implicated in embezzlement cases involving several senior officers. Those convicted include former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov, whose prison sentence was reduced to 10 years, and Major General Vladimir Shesterov, who received six years.
Nikitushkin was detained in a criminal case, but the source does not disclose the charges. For now, the court ruling places one of Russia’s senior training officials under pretrial detention while the legal basis for the case stays out of public view.
