Russian Deputy Defense Minister held on suspected treason, not just corruption
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested on charges of high treason, not merely corruption as initially reported, according to two independent sources cited by the Russian news outlet Vazhnye Istorii on April 24.
One source explained the situation, saying, "Bribery is for the public. They don't want to talk publicly about high treason yet - it's a big scandal: he is a Deputy Defense Minister, after all."
Another source commented on the improbability of an arrest solely for corruption: "No one would arrest him for corruption. Everyone there [in the Kremlin] has known about this for a long time. Putin gave the order after he was convinced that it was a case of treason."
Compromising materials on Ivanov have reportedly been held by Russian security forces for years. An investigator with Russia’s Investigative Committee told Vazhnye Istorii's editor-in-chief, Roman Anin, that these materials relate to Ivanov's illegal activities during his tenure as head of Oboronstroy, a joint-stock company for defense and space production. Despite the availability of these materials, their use had been previously blocked by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
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“He personally called Yuriev (the head of the FSB's Military Counterintelligence Department) and cursed him for the fact that the FSB was working on his close friend,” the investigator said.
According to a source close to the FSB, the Department for Economic Security and Counterintelligence (DESC) is involved in providing operational support for the case against Ivanov.
“Now they are deciding what to do with him: either to imprison him for bribery and ‘finish him off’ in the zone (prison), or to reclassify the charges as treason,” the source said.
Earlier in the day, the Telegram channel of the Moscow courts of general jurisdiction reported that Ivanov had been accusedof large-scale bribery and remanded in custody until June 23.
Ivanov, who has been Deputy Defense Minister since 2016 and was responsible for the construction and renovation of the Russian Defense Ministry’s facilities, is accused of receiving bribes on a particularly large scale in the awarding of contracts and subcontracts for the ministry.
On April 23, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced Ivanov’s detention on suspicion of bribery.
Last April, it was reported that Ivanov’s wife was vacationing in the French ski resort of Courchevel during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation accused her of lavish spending of millions of dollars that did not match the family’s official income.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
