A deputy defense minister has been detained on suspicion of accepting “massive” bribes, Russia’s top law enforcement investigator announced on Tuesday.
The Investigative Committee’s brief statement did not reveal details of what led to the detention of Deputy Minister Timur Ivanov. But the legal provision he was accused of violating was taking bribes on a “particularly large scale”, amounting to more than one million rubles, or more than $10,000.
The Defense Department has not commented on the investigation.
Mr Ivanov, deputy defense minister since 2016, has long been responsible for military construction projects, including the recent huge contract to rebuild the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Destroyed by Russian attack Shortly after the February 2022 invasion.
He was also responsible for the creation of Patriot Park, a military-themed space outside Moscow that features weapons exhibits and a Russian Orthodox cathedral designed to highlight the experience of Russia’s armed forces. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Motherland many times.
Ivanov is considered a protege of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, a close associate of President Vladimir V. Putin.
The circumstances surrounding the detention of a deputy minister with such high-level connections were unclear. But the pattern of such arrests in the past has been for those who fell out of favor to clash with the business interests of Russia’s FSB, Russia’s security services or construction oligarchs with more powerful connections.
“He’s not an anomaly in terms of side hustles and unexplained wealth,” said Darla Massicot, a Russian military expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. “You build your career that way. It’s over, you must have met someone.”
Photos and reports of the Ivanovs living a life of luxury far beyond the reach of government salaries have circulated in Russia for years.one Anti-Corruption Foundation Investigation 2022The group founded by opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny claimed the couple’s purchases included a Rolls-Royce, a $104,000 ring and designer clothes, as well as a trip to France. High-end vacation rentals and yacht rentals in Vieira.
The foundation and multiple news agencies reported that Mr. Ivanov and his wife, Svetlana, finalized a fake divorce in June 2022 so that she could continue traveling across Europe even after he was hit with European sanctions.
Soon after news of Mr Ivanov’s detention was announced on Tuesday, government supporters and pro-war news channels were quick to mention the couple’s notorious spending habits.
Conservative Russian political commentator Sergey Markov said the idea that any bribe would be limited to one million rubles was laughable. “No one believed this,” he wrote, noting that the charge meant accepting huge bribes. “The deputy minister not only committed a crime, but a serious crime. It sends a signal to everyone: do not support him.”
On Tuesday, the Russian Orthodox Moscow Diocese announced on its website that the diocesan priest, the Rev. Dmitry Safronov, who performed Mr. Navalny’s funeral prayers, will be banned from holding most public clerical positions for three years. .
The announcement did not specify an official reason for the penalty.But church analysts speculated online that it might just be to host the meeting funeral leader of the opposition Died in Russian prison in February. After a lengthy showdown with Navalny’s mother, the Russian government reluctantly approved a burial in a Moscow cemetery.
Milana Mazaeva Contributed reporting.
