Russian State Secretary for Defense put on trial on charges of bribery ‘on a particularly large scale’

Russian state media had already reported yesterday that a State Secretary of Defense had been arrested on suspicion of bribery. This concerns Timur Ivanov (48), who has held the position since 2016. Russia has a total of twelve State Secretaries for Defense, who work under Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Both Shoigu and Russian President Vladimir Putin were informed in advance of Ivanov’s arrest, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Ivanov, who was led to the dock in military uniform, is suspected of taking bribes. For those offenses he could be sentenced to a maximum of fifteen years in prison. Ivanov will remain in pre-trial detention until June 23.

If he is sentenced to prison, he would be the highest-ranking Russian official to face such charges since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. His arrest therefore affects Shoigu’s status, says an anonymous defense source The Guardian.

‘On a particularly large scale’

What exactly Ivanov was bribed for and for what amount was not disclosed, but it was heard in the hearing that it happened “on a particularly large scale” and that it would concern otherwise unspecified real estate services “during the contracting and outsourcing of work for the Ministry of Defence”.

Within Defense, Ivanov is responsible, among other things, for real estate management, the construction and reconstruction of facilities and for housing for the army. According to Russian media, he is also in charge of the reconstruction of the heavily bombed Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Footage showed how he came to inspect the construction of new apartment towers.

According to Forbes Ivanov is one of the richest people in Russian security and defense circles, although he is said to be living beyond his means according to the now deceased Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. He had previously accused him of corruption and believed that Ivanov spent hundreds of thousands of euros on holidays, jewelry and expensive clothing, while he also owns several luxury villas. That extravagant lifestyle put Ivanov in the crosshairs of both European and American sanctions.

Russian proponents of the war applaud Ivanov’s arrest. They have long demanded that the Kremlin tackle corruption within the army in order to make more progress on the battlefield. In that sense, the news is not a surprise, says conservative Russian opinion maker Sergei Markov: “The arrest of Timur Ivanov is only surprising because it has not happened much before.”