The former head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Research Center has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The Moscow Garrison Military Court found Colonel Igor Rutko, the former head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Research Center for Topographical, Geodetic, and Navigational Support, guilty of accepting bribes totaling 30.2 million rubles and abusing his office as part of a group acting for mercenary motives, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

According to the court’s ruling, Rutko will serve 11 years in a maximum-security penal colony and pay a fine of 20 million rubles.

He has also been stripped of his military rank of colonel and deprived of the state award “For Services to the Fatherland,” 2nd Class. In addition, he is banned from holding civil service positions for eight years.

The court ordered the confiscation of the bribe amount.

Investigators said that in 2014 Rutko signed an order establishing a special group of institute employees tasked with ensuring the timely updating of electronic topographic maps and their delivery to India. The group included senior researcher Igor Bobrov, who was appointed assistant to the director, and former chief researcher Evgeny Dolgov, who became head of the group.

According to the investigation, Bobrov devised a scheme to carry out corruption-related crimes and proposed that Rutko and Dolgov form an organized criminal group. He allegedly selected employees willing to accept bribes, incentive payments, and annual bonuses in exchange for management patronage. Dolgov reportedly signed payment documentation after coordinating it with Rutko. Investigators stated that the amount of the bribes was tied to the size of the monthly bonuses issued.