Russian Deputy Defence Minister detained on major bribery charges
Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov listened in horror as the verdict of a Moscow court was read out. The verdict stated that the deputy to Shoigu was arrested and detained for two months. Ivanov was charged with accepting a bribe "on an especially large scale."
"The court decided to apply a preventive measure in the form of temporary arrest for a period of 2 months until June 23, 2024, against the Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Timur Viktorovich Ivanov," the court stated.
More than £10,000 in bribes
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin were informed about Ivanov's arrest on Tuesday.
Tuesday evening, the Russian Investigative Committee announced that Ivanov was detained in connection with accepting a bribe "on an especially large scale". According to "The Moscow Times", this involves an amount of over 1 million rubles.
Ivanov did not admit to the charges against him.
The maximum penalty is 15 years of imprisonment.
Who is Ivanov?
Ivanov was appointed Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation by decree of the President of the Russian Federation in May 2016. He supervised the work of the military construction complex of the Ministry of Defence of Russia.
Born in 1975 in Moscow, Ivanov began his professional career in the Russian energy sector. He was further propelled "upwards" by Sergei Shoigu. When Shoigu became the governor of the Moscow region in 2012, Ivanov became his deputy. Later, in 2016, he appointed him as Deputy Minister of Defence. Since October 2022, Ivanov has been under European Union sanctions.
