Russian Defence Ministry scandal reaches top ranks, hints at wider corruption

The British Ministry of Defence reported on Wednesday that the investigation concerning Russia's Deputy Minister of Defence, Timur Ivanov, likely extends to Ruslan Tsalikov, the First Deputy Minister of Defence, who is senior to him.

In the daily intelligence update, it was reported that the Federal Security Service interrogated Tsalikov in connection with the Ivanov case.

It was noted that Tsalikov is seen as a patron of Ivanov and is the third person in the hierarchy of the defence ministry, after the Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov. Like Ivanov, Tsalikov has long-standing ties with Shoigu, having worked under his leadership in the Ministry of Emergency Situations and following him to the Moscow region's regional authorities and the Ministry of Defence.

It was assessed that there is a real possibility that the investigation regarding Ivanov could impact the Minister of Finance, Anton Siluanov, as some sources claim that his house was constructed by construction companies belonging to the Ministry of Defence.

"Corruption has long been a problem in the russian MOD. In 2019 Chief Military Prosecutor Valery Petrov said that corruption was "pretty much the root of most of the problems in the state of the rule of law". Corruption was a factor in russia’s poor performance particularly early in the Ukraine war, where corruption was blamed for expired ration packs and poor-quality tyres, and fuel embezzlement was also reported." - noted.