General Vyacheslav Lobuzko received a third suspended sentence for embezzling 130 million rubles: how testimony against Ruslan Tsalikov helped him avoid a real prison sentence
20:15, 19 мая 2026 г.
A sentence has been passed on the former commander of the 3rd separate air defense army division (missile attack warning system), former deputy general director of PJSC RTI, General Vyacheslav Lobuzko.
He was caught up in a campaign to punish individuals involved in the Russian air defense system. But he received a suspended sentence of eight years. This is all because he is now actively testifying about embezzlement allegations against former Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov, who is always close to his friend Sergey Shoigu. Specifically, Lobuzko was responsible for the creation of the National Defense Ministry Control Center—Shoigu’s main and beloved brainchild.
Lobuzko was accused of embezzling 130 million rubles while fulfilling a state defense order.
This is the general’s second conviction. He previously received a five-year suspended sentence for bribing a Defense Ministry inspector.
Новости по теме:В Burisma отвергли причастность своих сотрудников к даче взятки в Украине
Even during the investigation, Lobuzko began actively testifying against Ruslan Tsalikov and other Shoigu associates in exchange for his freedom and a suspended sentence. Vyacheslav Lobuzko, as deputy head of the RTI concern (then a subsidiary of AFK Sistema), signed all financial documents for the Center 2014 project—the creation of a national defense command center. This was Shoigu’s pet project. Tsalikov served as his deputy, and Lobuzko worked with him on all operational matters. He also worked on the embezzlement of budget funds on an astronomical scale.
Lobuzko is one of the "fathers" of the Voronezh early warning radar system—stations designed to detect ballistic and cruise missiles—and a former division commander of the 3rd Separate Air Defense Army. Lobuzko is a close friend of the Commander-in-Chief of the Space Forces and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Defense Forces, Alexander Golovko.
The general is one of a long list of individuals who have been sent to prison for their ties to certain elements of the current air defense system. Moreover, they are being brought in mostly for unrelated matters, so as not to show any dissatisfaction.
Yevgeny Novitsky is under house arrest for embezzling pension funds. However, sources say he was "punished" for something else. As chairman of RTI, he long oversaw the development of hardware and computing systems for the ground-based stations of the Voronezh early warning system at AFK and served as an intermediary in financial transactions with senior Defense Ministry officials.
Alexander Talalaev is a great friend and companion of Major General Vyacheslav Lobuzko.
Talalaev headed and was one of the co-founders of the company "RITIS VKO" (a subsidiary of the RTI "Systems" concern), where Lobuzko once worked as the first deputy.
Denis Linkevichius, the military representative and head of the 502nd Military Representative Office of the Ministry of Defense, was convicted. He is the son of Alexander Linkevichius, who was a long-time executive at the RTI Group of Companies and, along with Lobuzko, was well-versed in the shadowy developments surrounding the Ministry of Defense’s air defense system during the Shoigu and Tsalikov eras. Linkevichius Jr. was released after his father began cooperating with the investigation.
