In a significant development, Russian security services have apprehended Timur Ivanov, the deputy defense minister, on suspicion of accepting sizable bribes. This arrest stands as the most prominent corruption case since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deployment of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Ivanov, a close ally of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, was detained on Tuesday, as per a brief statement released by the Russian investigative committee. The charges against him align with a statute pertaining to accepting bribes “on a particularly large scale,” which carries a potential sentence of 15 years in prison.
The abrupt detention of Ivanov, entrusted by Putin with leading the war effort in Ukraine, has fueled conjecture regarding internal conflicts within the Russian elite and a potential government crackdown on corruption within the post-Soviet armed forces. The Kremlin confirmed that Putin and Shoigu had been notified of the arrest.
Prior to his detention, Ivanov had attended a meeting of top defense officials chaired by Shoigu on Tuesday. As deputy minister since 2016, Ivanov oversaw property management, housing, construction, and mortgages within the defense ministry. The defense ministry has refrained from commenting on the matter.
According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the Federal Security Service (FSB), which succeeded the Soviet-era KGB, carried out Ivanov’s arrest. Last month, Putin had directed the FSB to eliminate corruption in государственного defense procurement. The newspaper Izvestia reported additional detentions, though official confirmation is lacking. Ivanov’s properties are reportedly being searched.
State television has given extensive coverage to the case. An unidentified Russian law enforcement source told the TASS state news agency, “Let’s just say the investigation did not start yesterday, the day before yesterday, or even a month ago.” TASS also indicated the involvement of the FSB’s military counter-intelligence.
The reasons behind targeting such a senior official, closely associated with Shoigu, remain unclear. Russian military bloggers have consistently accused top generals of corruption and incompetence, particularly following the army’s hasty withdrawal from parts of Ukraine after overextending itself during the invasion’s initial stages.
Within the Russian elite, opinions on the war vary, which has sparked the most severe breakdown in relations between Russia and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Ivanov, currently inaccessible due to his detention, has long been associated with the ostentatious extravagance prevalent among segments of the post-Soviet Russian elite, including luxurious properties and lavish parties. In 2022, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, alleged that Ivanov and his family engaged in an extravagant lifestyle.
Born in Moscow, Ivanov holds a degree in mathematics from Moscow State University and completed a dissertation on organizational models for nuclear power plant construction. He rose through the ranks of Russia’s state atomic energy sector before becoming an adviser to the energy minister. Subsequently, he was appointed deputy head of the Moscow region’s government under Shoigu, who served as governor at the time.
From 2013 onwards, Ivanov headed a defense ministry construction company responsible for building housing for soldiers and high-security facilities. Forbes magazine has ranked Ivanov among the wealthiest individuals in Russia’s security structures.
