Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Timur Ivanov was detained on suspicion of taking a bribe (Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). About it reports The Investigative Committee in its telegram channel. The department did not provide any other details.
“The necessary investigative actions are being carried out,” the Investigative Committee added.
How transmits TASS, Ivanov is suspected of receiving a bribe of at least 1 million rubles. He faces up to 15 years in prison – this is the maximum punishment under the article charged against the deputy minister.
The deputy head of the Ministry of Defense was reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the detention, reported Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. According to him, the head of the military department, Sergei Shoigu, was also “notified in advance.”
Journalist Farida Rustamova notesthat Ivanov is “known to the general public as one of the richest security officials.” By data Forbes, in 2019, the deputy minister’s income was 13.6 million rubles, and his family’s was 136.7 million.
“Perhaps this is the highest-ranking suspect in terms of power hierarchy and influence since the beginning of the war. Ivanov is a longtime ally of Shoigu and has worked with him since 2012. He oversaw the construction of that same temple of the armed forces and the Patriot Park. His wife is the famous “socialite” and entrepreneur Svetlana Zakharova,” Rustamova wrote.
Timur Ivanov is a graduate of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics of Moscow State University. He devoted most of his career to the nuclear and energy industry: he worked in the department of construction of nuclear facilities of the Ministry of Atomic Energy, was vice-president of Atomstroyexport, was on the board of Inter RAO UES, and headed the Russian Energy Agency of the Ministry of Energy.
In 2012, Ivanov became deputy chairman of the Moscow region government under Governor Sergei Shoigu and took control of the energy block. He managed to establish himself well before the head of the region.
From 2013 to 2016, Ivanov was the general director of JSC Oboronstroy, subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, and oversaw the ministry’s largest infrastructure projects. In May 2016, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense.
Telegram channel “112” writesthat in the military department Ivanov oversaw issues related to property management and quartering of troops, housing and medical support for the Russian Armed Forces, and was also responsible for the construction, reconstruction and overhaul of Russian Ministry of Defense facilities and military mortgages.
After Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, Ivanov came under sanctions from the United States, the European Union and other countries. In the EU he was called the tenth most important person in the overall hierarchy of the Russian military leadership.
