Prosecutors Push for Stiff Sentence for Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Amid Corruption Charges

Russian state prosecutors are pursuing a nearly 15-year prison sentence for Timur Ivanov, the former Deputy Defense Minister, on charges of bribery and embezzlement, according to a report from the Vedomosti business newspaper on Monday.

Ivanov, 49, who was in charge of military construction initiatives, was detained in April 2024 during a broader crackdown on corruption within the Defense Ministry orchestrated by the Kremlin.

Dubbed the “glamorous general” by Russian media, Ivanov stands as the highest-ranking military official arrested since the onset of the Ukraine invasion in 2022. He held the deputy minister position from 2016 and was seen as a close associate of former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was dismissed last May and subsequently appointed as secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

Initially, Ivanov and his business partner, Sergei Borodin, faced allegations of receiving 1.19 billion rubles (approximately $15.1 million) as kickbacks for contracts awarded by the Defense Ministry.

In October, prosecutors added more charges, claiming that Ivanov and his alleged accomplices embezzled 4.1 billion rubles (around $52.4 million) through foreign bank transfers, and swindled an additional 216 million rubles in connection with the procurement of two ferries for the Kerch Strait route linking southern Russia with annexed Crimea.

Moreover, he is accused of accepting over 152 million rubles in bribes from Alexander Fomin, co-founder of the construction company Olimpsitistroy. Ivanov has refuted the charges against him.

Additionally, prosecutors are aiming for a 14-year sentence for another alleged accomplice, Anton Filatov, who formerly served as director of the Defense Ministry’s subsidiary, Oboronlogistika.

The proceedings, which have remained closed to the public since March, are expected to conclude with a verdict in early July, as reported by Vedomosti.

In 2022, Ivanov was the focus of a significant investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, established by the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny, which claimed he benefited personally from reconstruction projects in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.