Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov has been detained on suspected bribery charges, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Tuesday.
The investigative committee reported Timur Ivanov’s detention on Tuesday without offering any details of the accusations against him, saying only that he is suspected of taking an especially large bribe – a criminal offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
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.
Ivanov, 48, one of 12 deputy defence ministers, was sanctioned by both the US and the EU in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine.
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.
Source: Xinhua News Agency and The Guardian
