Officials embezzling Russia's state defense funds are traitors, the deputy prime minister in charge of the military said on Tuesday.
"Because this causes harm to Russia's defense capabilities and its security the bribe-taker directly collaborates with a potential enemy," Dmitry Rogozin told Russia's lower house of parliament .
Rogozin, Russia's former envoy to NATO, is known for his anti-Western rhetoric.
Russia's Military Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky said last year about 20 percent of state funds allocated for the procurement of new weapons was stolen.
The Russian government has pledged 22 trillion rubles ($730 billion) for its state arms procurement program through 2020.
Rogozin also said Russia would stop buying armored vehicles abroad.
Last month, a defense official said Russia had signed a deal to co-produce 60 armored vehicles with the Italian firm Iveco at a plant in the central town of Voronezh.
