The court considered the investigators' detention motion on the evening of September 30. A representative of the Main Military Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee told the hearing that Nikitushkin could obstruct the investigation if left at liberty, while his defense asked for a milder preventive measure.
The Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Russian Armed Forces, which Nikitushkin headed, is responsible for organizing the training of service members, developing the training and material base and supplying troops with combat training equipment. The same directorate runs the military-patriotic Patriot Park.
The park has been linked to a series of criminal cases against senior Defense Ministry officials. The Main Military Investigative Directorate investigated the embezzlement of budget funds allocated to Patriot. According to the investigation, between 2022 and 2024 former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov, Vladimir Shesterov, deputy head of the Main Directorate for Innovative Development, and park director Vyacheslav Akhmedov entered false information about construction work and embezzled more than 25 million rubles.
On April 10, Popov was sentenced to 19 years in a strict-regime colony on charges of accepting bribes, fraud, illegal possession of weapons, official forgery and abuse of office. An appeal reduced the term to 10 years. He did not admit guilt. Shesterov received six years. Also in April, the park's deputy general director, Vitaly Melimuk, was detained on suspicion of accepting a bribe.
Nikitushkin, 51, is a participant in the war against Ukraine. He was promoted to major general in December 2024. According to Mash, the officer worked on modernizing tank firing ranges in Russia. He had earlier complained of a shortage of money to buy simulators for training service members to operate armored vehicles, communications equipment, drones and night-vision devices, saying the specifics of the war in Ukraine had shown that troops could not be trained without such equipment.
In June, Colonel General Rustam Muradov was appointed to head the Main Directorate of Combat Training of the Armed Forces.