Russian arrested in Raleigh could be connected to the stalled military convoy in Ukraine
A Russian millionaire arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Raleigh. New social media video of expired Russian military food. A stalled 40-mile long Russian military convoy in Ukraine. WRAL Investigates found they may all be connected.
Video circulating on social media reportedly shows a Ukrainian soldier mocking Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs, given to the Russian military. The packaging shows they were made in 2013 and expired in 2015, yet are on the battlefield today, 7 years later.
"Logistically, in many ways this has been a disaster," says Simon Miles, a professor and Cold War expert with the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.
Miles spoke to WRAL Investigates from Romania, where he’s researching newly unclassified documents on the old Soviet Union.
While he was not aware of the expired food video on social media when we contacted him, Miles says it’s just one issue facing Russian troops on the ground. He says that 40-mile stalled convoy out in the wide open on a main road to the capital city of Kyiv is just one example. "The tires on a lot of these Russian vehicles are breaking down when they try to go off road. What we’re seeing is units running out of gasoline, units running of food, water and generally really low morale," Miles said.
The label on the expired food, written in Cyrillic, translates to a tie back to an infamous criminal case in Raleigh. Federal investigators say Voentorg is the company Leonid Teyf used to get $150 million in kickbacks on Russian military contracts. Teyf and his wife were arrested back in 2018 when the FBI raided their mansion based on a murder-for-hire plot, bribing a public official, tax return issues and immigration violations.
Based on the date stamp on the MREs, there’s a good chance the military bought these very products in that kickback scheme. Federal investigators says Teyf’s kickback scheme started in 2010. Voentorg signed a new, two-year deal to provide food and other services to the Russian military in 2012. That puts the 2013 manufacture date in that window.
At the time of the deal, Teyf had connections to Russian oligarchs who are now the target of financial sanctions. One of those oligarchs is Yevgeny Prigozhin, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest confidants. On Thursday, Prigozhin was among dozens of Russian billionaires and their families who had new sanctions placed on them by President Joe Biden. Investigators say Prigozhin’s network of companies was involved in the Teyf scheme.
WRAL Investigates asked Miles if those shady military deals of the past could be contributing to the stalled Russian convoy and the general battlefield troubles the Russians are experiencing in Ukraine. Miles has no doubt, "This is absolutely a case where corruption in defense contracting is coming back to haunt them."
As for Teyf, he’s serving a five-year prison sentence for his crimes in the U.S. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to bribery, tax evasion and immigration violations. When he’s released, he’ll be deported. He advised the court of wishes to go Russia, Belarus or Israel. Miles says returning to Russia may not be in the cards, not because of safety concerns, but because the quality of life in Russia will likely still be impacted by the worldwide economic sanctions levied against banks and Putin’s cronies.
