A senior Russian military officer arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe was remanded in custody on Wednesday after appearing in court in central Moscow, judicial officials said in a statement.
Timur Ivanov, 48, one of Russia’s 12 deputy defense ministers, was arrested Tuesday night, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement. They did not provide any further information, other than to specify that Ivanov is suspected of accepting a particularly large bribe, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
According to a court statement, investigators told the Basmany court in Moscow on Wednesday that Ivanov had conspired with third parties to receive a bribe in the form of unspecified real estate services “during the procurement and subcontracting of work for the needs of the Ministry of Defense.” .
An acquaintance of Ivanov, identified as Sergei Borodin, was also arrested and remanded in custody on the same charges, judicial officials said in a separate statement. Both men will remain in custody until at least June 23.
According to the Defense Ministry website, Ivanov was appointed to the position in 2016 by presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, construction and reconstruction of facilities.
Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that both President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu were informed about Ivanov’s arrest, which comes as Moscow’s war on Ukraine continues in its third year.
Before his arrest on Tuesday night, Ivanov was seen attending a meeting with Shoigu and other senior military commanders.
Russian media reported that he was in charge of, among other things, part of the construction in Mariupol, a port city in the partially occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine that was heavily bombed and occupied by Russian forces at the start of the war in 2022. .
Zvezda, the official television channel of the Russian military, reported in the summer of 2022 that the ministry “is building an entire residential block” in the badly damaged city and showed Ivanov inspecting the works.
That same year, the team of the late Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption activist, alleged that Ivanov and his family had been living an extravagant life with lavish foreign trips, lavish parties and elite real estate. Opposition activists also alleged that Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana, divorced him in the summer of 2022, avoided sanctions and continued to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.
Commenting on Ivanov’s arrest on Tuesday, Navalny ally Maria Pevchikh said on X, formerly Twitter: “Today is a good day.”