Just finished being dealt with by Putin, the high-level "female No. 1" of the Russian army, swept away billions of dollars and defected to the West? Who is the "Female No. 1" of the Russian army? How did she defect and why?
Recently, a shocking news has been circulating in Russia that General Tatyana Shevtsova, the former deputy minister of defense of Russia, who is the "female No. 1" of the Russian army, is suspected of secretly defecting to the West after being dismissed in mid-June. There is no doubt that if this news is true, Shevtsova will become the highest-ranking official to defect from Russia since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
According to foreign media reports, after leaving her post, Shevtsova not only flew to France alone with a large amount of cash, but also transferred billions of dollars of assets abroad through virtual currency. What is even more outrageous is that there was no departmental obstruction during this period. At present, this news has not been officially confirmed by Russia, and neither Shevtsova nor other Russian officials have come forward to refute the rumors.
It is conceivable that once this news is "hammered", it will inevitably cause turmoil in the Russian political arena. You must know that Shevtsova has just been dealt with by Putin, dismissed from the post of deputy defense minister, and defected to the West in the blink of an eye, which is undoubtedly a serious provocation to Putin himself and the country.
After this news broke, some analysts pointed out that Shevtsova's defection may be related to the recent anti-corruption actions of the Putin government. It is reported that Shevtsova has served as Russia's deputy defense minister since 2010 and has been responsible for the management of Russian military funds for 14 years, and her ascension to the position is likely to be related to former Russian Defense Minister Serdyukov. And during her tenure, she also had a close relationship with Shoigu. What's more, there have long been rumors in Russia that the Shevtsova couple have a huge amount of unidentified property and may be involved in corruption cases.
In this case, if Shevtsova does defect to the West, the consequences will be unimaginable. First, her defection is likely to trigger a "Great Purge" of Russian officialdom. On the one hand, there are important doubts about her easy exit and defection. Imagine if she was able to leave the country with a large box of cash, which was in the spotlight both inside and outside Russia, there might be something more complicated involved. For example, is there any assistance from foreign forces? There are no accomplices in the memory of Russian politics? Either one will provoke Putin's wrath.
On the other hand, her defection may also lead to the leakage of important intelligence within the Russian army, and Shevtsova, as a senior member of the Ministry of Defense, is well aware of the Russian army's arms procurement, fund transfer, and operational objectives. If she provides this information to Western intelligence, it will inevitably pose a serious threat to the Russian army on the front line. In addition to this, her defection will also deal a heavy blow to Russian morale and could trigger a "chain reaction" of more defections from top personnel.
In fact, rumors of Shevtsova's defection have once again highlighted the seriousness of Russia's structural corruption problem. In the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Putin government needs to take effective measures as soon as possible to solve this problem and ensure the long-term peace and stability of the country. Otherwise, if the bad influence is allowed to spread, it is likely to lead to a general collapse of the political situation in Russia.
It is worth noting that the situation that Shevtsova will face after defecting to France has also become the focus of attention and speculation. And about whether the West will confiscate Shevtsova's property? There are also a variety of possibilities. If the West confiscates its property, will it not make other Russian officials who want to defect dare not defect? If the West does not confiscate its property, then what kind of justification will be given? In addition, there are some circumstances, such as the fact that Western countries do not know the specific whereabouts and property of Shevtsova; Or that even if they knew, they might choose not to take action for a variety of reasons.
Of course, these are only analyses based on the fact that the news of "Shevtsova's defection" is confirmed. Until there is no response from Russian officials and Shevtsova herself, we need to remain rational and objective, waiting for more conclusive evidence to emerge. At the same time, we should also learn from Russia's experience and recognize the harm that structural corruption can cause. We also need to put an end to this kind of possible "nest case" and "important case" once and for all.