Vladimir Markine, spokesman for Russia’s enquiry committee, which is responsible for investigating criminal cases, named the suspect as Alexander Trofimov.

“A colonel with the Russian defence ministry several times committed acts of a sexual and perverse nature involving two brothers aged nine and 15 years old between 2009 and July 2011,” said Markime.

Trofimov will be remanded in custody for the next two months, said Markime, and faces 25 years in prison.

Official statistics show that the number of sexual crimes involving children in Russia has multiplied by 30 since 2003 although it is unclear if this rise in crime is due to more precise figures being available than in the past.