Vyacheslav Shustov, Konstantin Savostyanov and Sergei Belov were convicted of stealing the funds by inflating the cost of orders they received from the defence ministry between 2018 and 2021 and through forging documents, according to investigators.

Among the items seized from the defendants were money, real estate and cars totalling over 50 million roubles ($500,000), which have now been transferred to state coffers, Russia's Investigative Committee said.

"The court sentenced Savostyanov to nine years' jail, and Shustov and Belov to six years each," it added.

Russia's defence sector has been marred by corruption scandals since the fall of the Soviet Union but the problem has come under intense scrutiny since Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022

The Kremlin has been diverting huge resources to the conflict, with plans to ramp up defence spending by almost 30 percent next year, and officials are keen for the money to be spent efficiently.

Russian authorities have arrested more than a dozen military officials since April, part of what analysts have called a "purge" aimed at stamping out graft.