Russia arrests deputy defence minister suspected of corruption

Russia has arrested Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov on organised corruption charges in the most high-profile case since the start of the country’s all-out war on Ukraine.

A brief statement by Russia’s Investigative Committee citing a statute for accepting bribes “on a particularly large scale” said on Wednesday that the arrest was made a day earlier.

State media showed brief footage of the military official standing in a Moscow court. He faces 15 years in prison if convicted.

Ivanov will be held under a detention order for two months, according to the TASS news agency, which said a man named Sergei Borodin has also been taken into custody on suspicion of complicity in receiving bribes by Ivanov.

The 48-year-old deputy defence minister oversaw military construction and repairs and is accused of taking part in a “criminal conspiracy” in managing contracts that greatly benefitted him personally, reportedly contributing to a lavish lifestyle.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had been informed about Ivanov, who had been present at a meeting of top defence officials chaired by Shoigu earlier on Tuesday.

In 2022, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which is run by the allies of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, released the findings of an investigation that found Ivanov and his family had funnelled off millions of dollars to buy property and yachts.

Maria Pevchikh, the chairwoman of the foundation, wrote, “Today is a good day,” in a post on X after news of Ivanov’s arrest was publicised.

The official was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB), which was directed last month by Putin to root out corruption in state defence organisations.

The RBC news service in Russia quoted unnamed sources as saying investigators are carrying out searches in multiple regions in relation with the case.