The Kremlin is sorting through its ranks. Russia’s deputy defense minister has been arrested for alleged corruption, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced Tuesday.
Timur Vadimovich Ivanov “is suspected of committing a crime under section 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code (accepting a bribe),” the Committee said on Telegram. The offense is punishable by a large fine or a prison term of more than ten years, depending on the details of the crime.
A divorce that questions
Timur Ivanov is also subject to sanctions by the European Union as a senior Defense Ministry official responsible for the construction of military installations.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation, created by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, published an investigation into this deputy minister in 2022. According to it, this official supervised and profited from construction projects in Mariupol, Ukraine, a city that fell under the control of Moscow after a siege lasting several months. The investigation by the organization, banned in Russia for “extremism”, also showed that the minister divorced his wife to allow him to circumvent EU sanctions.
“Today is a good day,” reacted Maria Pevchikh, head of investigations at the Foundation, on social networks. Like most opposition figures, she was forced into exile by the Kremlin’s repression. Most of the opponents who remain in Russia are behind bars. The main opposition leader, Alexeï Navalny, who galvanized the masses by denouncing corruption under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, died in prison in mid-February.