VLADIMIR Putin’s cronies have dramatically arrested a senior Russian military officer on suspicion of taking a bribe.
Timur Ivanov, 48, one of Russia’s 12 deputy defense ministers, could now face 15 years in prison for accepting a “major” bribe, a criminal offense in Russia.
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Ivanov, the top official in charge of building military facilities in the country, was detained by the Investigative Committee, Russia’s main law enforcement body.
He is believed to have been accused of accepting a bribe of more than one million rubles (£8,500).
The Kremlin spokesman said both Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu were informed about the arrest.
Ivanov was sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
He was appointed to the position in 2016 by presidential decree and oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military.
Russian media claimed he was in charge of extensive construction in Mariupol, a port city in the partially occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine that was heavily bombed and occupied by Russian forces in 2022.
The Russian military previously reported that the ministry was building an entire residential block in the badly damaged city and showed Ivanov inspecting construction sites.
That same year, the team of the late Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s leading critic, alleged that Ivanov and his family had been living an extravagant life full of luxury abroad, lavish parties and elite real estate, indicating corruption.
Ivanov now joins the list of many high-profile arrests in Putin’s regime.
In December last year, the general in charge of Putin’s feared “Satan-2” nuclear weapons was dramatically arrested in a fraud scandal that rocked Moscow.
Lieutenant General Oleg Frolov, 61, deputy director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, was detained along with two other alleged accomplices.
He was accused of playing a role in a scheme to steal £4 million from the Russian state, known to be plagued by corruption.
Ukraine prepares for a mega bombing
The high-profile arrest comes after Russia escalated its attack on Ukraine, hinting at Putin’s feared spring offensive that could begin as early as next month.
For weeks, Putin’s army has been attacking Ukraine with relentless waves of missile and drone strikes, terrorizing its 1.3 million residents and killing dozens.
Kharkiv’s power facilities have suffered particularly severe damage since Russia began attacking critical civilian infrastructure last month, focusing on its energy system.
On March 22, Russian attacks destroyed the city’s two main power plants and a network of substations, plunging it into darkness and leaving thousands of people without power.
Last week, the mayor of Kharkiv warned that the border city is in danger of becoming a “second Aleppo” as Russian airstrikes turn it into a wasteland.
Ihor Terekhov said that unless the West steps up and provides crucial air defense systems, Kharkiv could suffer the same fate as the Syrian city, which heavy Russian bombing reduced to rubble a decade ago.
He pleaded with the West to intervene and establish crucial air defenses.
Referring to the already approved US$50 billion relief bill, he said The Guardian: “We need that support to prevent Kharkiv from becoming a second Aleppo.”
Deliveries of American weapons will begin a few days after Republican congressmen finally ended a five-month deadlock in the House of Representatives.
The $61bn (£49bn) package must win final approval from the US Senate today.
Zelensky said the new weapons would allow Ukrainian forces to “stabilize the front line.”