- Deputy Defence Minister arrested in Russia for corruption charges
- State media broadcasts courtroom footage of the military official
- Investigation reveals alleged misappropriation of millions for personal benefit
Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was apprehended by Russia on charges of organized corruption, constituting the most prominent case since the commencement of Russia’s full-scale military campaign against Ukraine.
Russia’s Investigative Committee issued a brief statement on Wednesday, attributing the arrest to a statute that prohibits accepting gratuities “on a particularly large scale” and stating that the incident occurred overnight.
Brief footage of the military official appearing in a courtroom in Moscow was broadcast by state media. If found guilty, he would be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
According to the TASS news agency, Ivanov has been placed under a two-month detention order. Additionally, a man named Sergei Borodin has been arrested on suspicion of complicity with Ivanov’s receipt of gratuities.
In addition to supervising military construction and repairs, the 48-year-old deputy defense minister is allegedly implicated in a “criminal conspiracy” involving the management of contracts that contributed significantly to his extravagant lifestyle and tremendously benefited him personally.
According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu were duly informed regarding Ivanov, who had attended a meeting of senior defense officials that Shoigu presided over earlier on Tuesday.
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An investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organization supported by the associates of the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, revealed in 2022 that Ivanov and his family had misappropriated millions of dollars for the purchase of real estate and yachts.
“Today is a good day,” wrote Maria Pevchikh, chairwoman of the foundation, in a post on X after the public disclosure of Ivanov’s arrest.
The official was apprehended by the Federal Security Service (FSB), an agency that Putin instructed to eradicate corruption from state defense organizations a month ago.
Unnamed sources cited by the RBC news service in Russia stated that investigators are conducting inquiries in multiple regions in connection with the case.
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