A well-connected Russian deputy defence minister has been charged with bribe-taking, in the highest-profile corruption scandal in the country in years, triggering speculation about a possible purge within Moscow’s elites.
Timur Ivanov, 47, who was responsible for Russia’s military infrastructure projects, was detained by the FSB services late on Tuesday evening at his work.
On Wednesday, Ivanov, wearing his military uniform, appeared behind a glass cage in a Moscow court, where he was formally arrested and charged with high bribery. The court remanded him in custody for two months and placed him in the high-security Lefortovo prison in Moscow. He faces 15 years in jail if convicted.
Ivanov was widely seen as a long-term confidant of the powerful defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, having worked with Shoigu across various agencies for more than a decade.
The sudden arrest of an ally of Shoigu, who in turn Putin tasked with fighting the war in Ukraine, sparked speculations about a battle within the elite and of a public crackdown on the corruption that has plagued Russia’s post-Soviet armed forces.
“It is hard to find an official who has done more for Shoigu than Ivanov,” said a former defence official who worked directly with Ivanov, asking for anonymity so they could speak freely.
“This is an attack on Shoigu’s standing. But Shoigu has weathered other storms before.”
Shoigu, Russia’s longest-serving minister, assumed leadership of the defence ministry in 2012 after his tenure as the emergency services minister. Despite facing criticism for military setbacks during the war, he has retained his position and is widely regarded as a trusted figure by Putin.
Ivanov’s arrest comes weeks after Putin called on the FSB services to step up its efforts to root out corruption in state defence procurement.
Over the years, Ivanov, who was previously hit with US and EU sanctions, has cultivated a reputation for opulence, with Russian media abuzz with reports of his extravagant lifestyle that far surpasses the earnings of a defence official.
In 2022, investigators working for the late Alexei Navalny alleged that Ivanov and his family had been living a life full of luxurious trips abroad, lavish parties and elite real estate. Navalny’s team also claimed that Ivanov profited from construction projects in Ukraine’s Mariupol, which fell under Moscow’s control after a devastating months-long siege.
Forbes magazine has listed Ivanov as one of the wealthiest men in Russia’s security structures.
“He was known as the king of kickbacks, it was an open secret in the defence ministry,” said the former defence official. “The real question is why he was arrested now,” he added.
Observers suggest that the arrest could signal a shift in the Kremlin’s stance towards ostentatious displays of wealth since the onset of the Ukraine conflict.
Ivanov’s arrest was welcomed by pro-war commentators, who have urged Putin to crackdown on military corruption so that Moscow could wage its war in Ukraine more successfully.
Sergei Markov, a conservative Russian political commentator, remarked: “The arrest of Timur Ivanov surprises everyone only because it’s surprising why he wasn’t arrested much earlier.”
The events appear to have caught Ivanov by surprise, according to his family members cited in Russian media. Hours before his arrest, he was present on Tuesday at a meeting of top defence officials chaired by Shoigu.
Russian security services, however, hinted that Ivanov’s arrest was carefully planned in advance.
“Let’s just say the investigation did not start yesterday, the day before yesterday or even a month ago,” an unidentified Russian law enforcement source told the Tass state news agency. The state-owned Lenta.Ru outlet reported that the FSB had been collecting material on Ivanov for five years.
Ivanov’s jailing comes before Putin’s formal inauguration for his fifth term as president next month, which may feature a government shake-up, although there is no sign Putin plans to slow down his war efforts in Ukraine.
