Timur Ivanov, Russian Deputy Defence Minister, who was dismissed from his post and taken into custody on suspicion of accepting bribes.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian authorities have formally dismissed a deputy defence minister jailed on bribery charges and accused by Kremlin critics of living a lavish lifestyle, Russian media reported Thursday. A court ordered that his pretrial detention be extended for three more months.

Timur Ivanov, 48, is one of several senior military officers arrested on corruption charges in recent months. He was a close associate of Sergei Shoigu, whom President Vladimir Putin replaced as defence minister last month.

Mr. Ivanov, arrested in April, was charged with taking an especially large bribe. His lawyers said he maintains his innocence. The Basmanny District Court in Moscow on Thursday extended his detention pending investigation and trial until at least Sept. 23. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Russian media, citing an online registry of government officials, said Thursday that Ivanov was dismissed from his post. His lawyer Denis Baluyev confirmed the dismissal in comments to Russian business news site RBK. It wasn’t immediately clear from the reports when exactly Ivanov was fired.

Other top military officials arrested in recent months include deputy chief of the Russian military general staff Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin; Gen. Ivan Popov, a former top commander in Russia’s offensive in Ukraine; and Lt. Gen. Yury Kuznetsov, head of the Defense Ministry’s personnel directorate. All three have been accused of bribery.

According to the Defence Ministry’s website, Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects.

Mr. Ivanov’s arrest came nearly a month after Mr. Putin called on the Federal Security Service to “keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort” and pay special attention to state defense procurement.

Russian media reported that Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol — a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war. Ivanov has been sanctioned by both the United States and European Union.

Zvezda, the official TV channel of the Russian military, reported in summer 2022 that the ministry was building an entire residential block in Mariupol and showed Ivanov inspecting construction sites and newly erected residential buildings.

That same year, the team of the late Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner, alleged Ivanov and his family had been enjoying luxurious trips abroad, lavish parties and owning elite real estate. The activists also alleged that Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana, divorced him in 2022 to avoid sanctions and continued living a lavish lifestyle.

“A third man has been detained in a bribery case involving one of Russia’s most senior defence officials,” Moscow’s court service said on April 25.

It said businessman Alexander Fomin is suspected of paying bribes to Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, who was detained on April 24, as well as Mr. Ivanov’s associate, Sergei Borodin. All of the men are to remain in custody until at least June 23.

“It is rare for such a high-ranking official to be accused of a crime in Russia. Mr. Ivanov, an ally of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, was jailed pending an investigation and trial on charges of bribery,” court officials said in a statement. He was in charge of military construction projects and was previously accused of living a lavish lifestyle in anti-corruption investigations conducted by the team of late Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It is unclear what sparked the decision to charge him with bribery.

Mr. Ivanov (48) was sanctioned by both the United States and European Union in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on April 24 that the construction projects that were overseen by Mr. Ivanov will continue.

Moscow’s court service said Alexander and Borodin contributed to Mr. Ivanov receiving a “particularly large bribe” — an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. As part of the case against Alexander and the Deputy Minister, the courts service added that Alexander did not pay for goods, work and services related to repairing and reconstructing buildings.

Russian state news agency Tass reported on Wednesday that a Moscow businessman whose company is involved in construction gave testimony which incriminated the Deputy Defence Minister. Tass did not name the individual who gave the evidence, but public records and Russian newspapers say that Alexander Fomin owns half of the company, called Olimpsitistroy.

In 2021, Mr. Ivanov awarded Alexander and the co-owner of Olimpsitistroy a state award called For Merit to the Fatherland for building medical centers, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.

According to a court statement on Wednesday, investigators told the judge that Mr. Ivanov conspired with third parties to receive a bribe in the form of unspecified property services “during contracting and subcontracting work for the needs of the Ministry of Defence.”

Mr. Ivanov’s lawyer, Murad Musayev, told the state news agency Tass on Wednesday that his client is accused of “taking a bribe in the form of free construction and repair work on supposedly his personal properties,” and in turn providing “assistance to companies that were contractors for the Defence Ministry.”

Another lawyer, Denis Baluyev, was quoted by state news agency RIA Novosti as saying that Mr. Ivanov maintains his innocence. Mr. Baluyev told RIA Novosti on Thursday that the authorities froze Mr. Ivanov’s bank accounts and seized his real estate.

According to the Defence Ministry’s website, Mr. Ivanov was appointed in 2016 by a Presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, as well as construction projects.

RIA Novosti quoted Mr. Peskov as saying that Mr. Shoigu and Mr. Putin were informed of Mr. Ivanov’s arrest, which comes as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds through its third year.

Independent Russian news outlets reported on Wednesday that the bribery charges were intended to hide more serious charges of treason and avoid scandal, citing two unidentified sources close to the Federal Security Service, or FSB.

Mr. Peskov dismissed the suggestion and described the reports as speculation. “There are a lot of rumors. We need to rely on official information,” he told journalists. Mr. Musayev, Mr. Ivanov’s lawyer, also denied any other charges, telling RIA Novosti that Mr. Ivanov faced only bribery allegations.

Before his arrest, Mr. Ivanov was seen attending a meeting with Mr. Shoigu and other top military brass. The move against Mr. Ivanov came nearly a month after Mr. Putin called on the FSB to “keep up a systemic anti-corruption effort” and pay special attention to state defence procurement.

Russian media reported that Mr. Ivanov oversaw some of the construction in Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city that was devastated by bombardment and occupied by Russian forces early in the war.

Zvezda, the official TV channel of the Russian military, reported in summer 2022 that the Ministry was building an entire residential block in Mariupol and showed Mr. Ivanov inspecting construction sites and newly erected buildings.

That same year, the team of Opposition leader Navalny alleged Mr. Ivanov and his family had been enjoying luxurious trips abroad, lavish parties and owned elite real estate. The activists also alleged that Mr. Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana, divorced him in 2022 to avoid sanctions and continued living a lavish lifestyle. Few high-level officials have been prosecuted in Russia.

In April 2023, former Deputy Culture Minister Olga Yarilova was arrested and charged with embezzling more than 200 million rubles ($2.2 million). Olga, who held her post from 2018 to 2022, is on trial and facing a possible seven-year jail term.

Former Economics Minister Alexei Ulyukayev received an eight-year prison sentence in 2017 for accepting a $2 million bribe from one of Mr. Putin’s top associates. The high-profile trial was widely seen as part of infighting between Kremlin clans. Ulyukayev, now 68, was granted early release from prison in May 2022.

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov inspects the construction of apartment blocks in Mariupol, Russian-controlled Ukraine, in this still image from video released on October 15, 2022. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A Russian Deputy Defence Minister exposed in an investigation by late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team was remanded in custody on April 24 on suspicion of taking large bribes.

The arrest of Timur Ivanov, a long-time ally of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, is the most dramatic corruption case in Russia in recent years. It comes as spending on the military has ballooned amid its offensive on Ukraine.

Mr. Ivanov, 48, oversaw construction and procurement for the armed forces, and was linked to Russia’s high-profile rebuilding of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, occupied by Moscow’s forces.

“The Deputy Defence Minister of the Russian Federation was sent to a pre-trial detention centre,” the press service for Moscow courthouses said in a statement on social media.

He faces up to 15 years in prison for bribe-taking “on a particularly large scale”, it added.

Mr. Ivanov denies the charges, his lawyer told the state-run TASS news agency.

Several independent Russian media outlets have alleged that Mr. Ivanov and his family acquired vast wealth through kick-backs on contracts he agreed at the Ministry.

Lavish lifestyle

In December 2022, Navalny’s team said they had obtained thousands of leaked emails from Mr. Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana Maniovich, that showed a lavish lifestyle well beyond what his official salary could cover.

They said she had spent hundreds of thousands of euros on luxury cars, jewellery, clothes, parties, and renting premium property and yachts in the south of France.

Some of the transactions were routed through third parties, including Defence Ministry contractors, they alleged.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was in “constant” contact with Mr. Shoigu but refused to comment directly on Mr. Ivanov’s arrest.

“There will be an investigation,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, cautioning against “speculation”.

In court on Wednesday, Mr. Ivanov, 48, stood in a glass dock for defendants in military uniform.

The court said investigators believe he was part of a “criminal conspiracy” to take a “bribe on a particularly large scale in the form of property services, during the course of contracting and subcontracting work for the Defence Ministry.”

It did not provide further details.

The judge sent him to pre-trial detention until at least June 23. He will be held at the notorious Lefortovo jail in Moscow, TASS reported.

‘Shoigu’s deputy’

Campaigners, including Navalny, have long argued that corruption is endemic in Putin’s Russia.

Arrests of high-profile government figures are rare, usually the result of political infighting, analysts say.

Activists say the vast sums being poured into the Ukraine offensive has given officials new opportunities to enrich themselves through secretive procurement deals.

Russian military bloggers, who have long criticised Mr. Shoigu’s handling of the offensive, quickly linked Mr. Ivanov to the Defence Minister on social media.

In a post criticising Mr. Ivanov, Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone repeatedly referred to him as “Shoigu’s Deputy”.

“He, like Shoigu, comes from the family clan,” it said.

Former Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had accused Mr. Shoigu and other Defence Ministry officials of corruption and incompetence before his mysterious death last year.

The Defence Ministry has not commented on Mr. Ivanov’s arrest.

Just hours before investigators announced they had arrested Mr. Ivanov on Tuesday he had appeared in video footage published by the Ministry in which Mr. Shoigu addressed top military brass about the state of the Ukraine offensive.

A Russian deputy defence minister in charge of military construction has been detained on Tuesday on suspicion of “large-scale” bribe-taking, in one of the highest-profile corruption cases since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine.

A brief statement by the Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body, said late on Tuesday that Timur Ivanov had been taken into custody and an investigation into his case was proceeding.

The statute that the investigators cited for the detention of Ivanov, who has been in his job for eight years, is for accepting bribes “on a particularly large scale”.

In 2022, Russia’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, headed by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, alleged that Ivanov and his family led a lavish lifestyle filled with spending on real estate, luxurious trips and designer clothing.

Russian media reported that Ivanov was in charge, among other things, of large construction projects rebuilding the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which was heavily bombarded and taken by Russia as part of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said a report on Ivanov’s detention had been presented to President Vladimir Putin. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had been informed in advance of his detention, he said.

The daily Izvestia reported on Wednesday, citing sources, that searches were conducted late on Tuesday at some of Ivanov’s properties.

Russian news reports said that Ivanov, if convicted, could face up to 15 years in prison.

Forbes magazine listed Ivanov, an expert in cybernetics and the nuclear industry, as one of the wealthiest men in Russia’s security structures.

News outlet RBK posted a picture of him attending a meeting of ministerial officials earlier on Tuesday chaired by Shoigu.

Russian news reports said Ivanov was likely the most senior Russian official to face such charges since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

He worked in companies dealing with fuel and energy and in the Moscow regional government before joining the defence ministry in 2010. He became a deputy minister in 2016.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)