Over 700 million roubles were stolen during the supply of counterfeit tinned meat to Russian troops in Ukraine
According to The Moscow Times, substandard tinned meat has been supplied to Russian troops stationed in Ukraine for two years. A total of 170 tonnes of products, worth 7 billion roubles, were delivered.
The investigation was launched after a large consignment of beef and pork stews produced by the Selatino meat processing plant near Moscow was discovered in the warehouses of one of the brigades of the 25th Combined Arms Army in the self-proclaimed ‘LPR’ ‘Selatino’.
An expert analysis revealed traces of skin, elevated starch content and the food additive carrageenan in the products. During an inspection of the production facilities, the prosecutor’s office also identified breaches of technical requirements, resulting in a reduced protein content in the tinned goods. The products were deemed counterfeit and unfit for consumption by military personnel, particularly whilst on combat missions. It was also established that their price had been inflated.
Six individuals are implicated in the case of fraud on an especially large scale. Among them is Viktor Tarasevich, the former head of the Food Supply Directorate of the Resource Supply Department of the Russian Ministry of Defence, who held the post until May 2026.
The suspects also include Artem Barishkov, CEO of the Selatino Joint-Stock Company; Zinaida Grishchuk, a technologist at the company; Alexei Baranov, CEO of Narmyasprom LLC; the company’s commercial director, Dmitry Vislobokov, and entrepreneur Dmitry Mizgir. However, charges have so far been brought only against Tarazevich, Baranov and Vislobokov. According to the investigation, the whereabouts of the other three suspects are unknown.
The investigation believes that in 2024, JSC ‘Voentorg’ engaged the company RVE to fulfil state contracts, which in turn entered into an agreement with ‘Narmiasprom’ to supply military units with tinned meat. The actual manufacturer of the products was the company ‘Selatino’.
According to the investigation, the suspects acted in collusion with the aim of embezzling funds from the Russian Ministry of Defence by producing tinned food from cheap raw materials of substandard quality.
This is not the first criminal case linked to the supply of products for the Russian army. In April 2025, the former head of the Russian Ministry of Defence’s food supply department, Alexander Berezhnoy, was sentenced to seven years and seven months’ imprisonment in a case involving the acceptance of bribes from suppliers for awarding contracts. The criminal case against former Russian Deputy Defence Minister Dmitry Bulgakov is also linked to the supply of substandard food.
