KRASNODAR, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - A police officer in southern Russia who posted a video clip on the Internet alleging endemic corruption is facing libel charges, a local prosecutor's office said on Monday.

In a video message addressed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Alexei Dymovsky, a major in the Novorossiisk city police, alleged that superiors forced officers to solve crimes that did not exist to improve statistics, and complained of bad working conditions and low pay.

He was dismissed on Sunday for "libel and action that tarnishes the police force."

The investigations department of the Prosecutor General's Office Novorossiisk Directorate said it had received "a collective petition from the Novorossiisk police department" requesting that libel charges be pressed against Dymovsky.

The Novorossiisk police department has denied the allegations, saying "not a single allegation" could be verified.

Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, who vowed in August to eradicate corruption in his ministry within a month, on Sunday ordered a federal probe into Dymovsky's claims.