“Putin doesn’t care much about corruption. But there is a limit.” How to explain the fall of Timur Ivanov, the “opulent” Deputy Minister of Defense

The fall of Timur Ivanov, Moscow’s deputy defense minister, a man whose opulent lifestyle was known and tolerated by the Kremlin for years, is a significant blow to his longtime protector and ally, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at a time when in which a large part of the country’s political elite expects an imminent reshuffle, writes the Financial Times.

President Vladimir Putin, who will be sworn in next month, is set to announce a new cabinet, a move that has already sparked a behind-the-scenes power struggle.

In the midst of this struggle, Sergei Shoigu’s team initially appeared to be on the rise, buoyed by Russia’s recent advances in Ukraine and the death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, the defense minister’s most vocal critic.

But Ivanov’s arrest signaled a change, a person close to the Russian Defense Ministry told the Financial Times, particularly given the highly visible manner in which the deputy minister was taken to court.

“They could have dismissed him first, if they only wanted to weaken Shoigu. It would have shown that they got rid of corruption,” said the person.

“Instead, they arrested him in his office, in uniform, immediately after the meeting of the board of directors of the Ministry of Defense, where he was sitting a chair away from Șoigu. Everything is theater. What is its meaning if not to undermine Șoigu?”, said the person in question.

Thanks to loyalty, Shoigu has so far survived in his role, despite humiliating setbacks in the first weeks of the war in Ukraine and the fact that a “special military operation” that was supposed to last three days was extended into a third year.

He also withstood virulent criticism from Prigozhin, who sparked an unexpected revolt last year.

But Putin, who is careful not to give too much power to either faction, seems to have concluded that the Kremlin must counterbalance the power pole of Shoigu and the Defense Ministry.

Putin believed that Prigozhin “went too far, but he also believes that he was not wrong.”

Too extravagant

Ivanov’s extravagant lifestyle, which grossly exceeded his official means, made him an easy target, the Financial Times source added.

“Putin doesn’t care that much about corruption – you need a certain amount to allow things to happen. But there is still a limit,” the person said.

According to Russian state media, as well as various investigations published over time, Ivanov and his wife had numerous properties, including very expensive villas and cars.

“In 2016, the family of Deputy Minister Timur Ivanov had nine vehicles, and by 2019 they had reached 12,” writes the financial newspaper Kommersant, from Russia. “Among Timur Ivanov’s cars are a Chevrolet Suburban (from 2016), ZiS-110 (limousine, purchased in 2019).

In 2019, Timur Ivanov’s family purchased a residential building with an area of ​​more than 1.5 thousand square meters. The villa is registered in the name of the wife, and not in the name of the deputy minister himself.

Ivanov denies corruption allegations

In 2022, Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption organization produced a blistering 40-minute film documenting Ivanov’s lavish villas, cars and vacations, all backed by private photography and invoices.

One of the Anti-Corruption Foundation’s findings was Ivanov’s long-standing relationship with a company called Olimpcitistroi, which has won large military construction contracts, including, most recently, the reconstruction of Mariupol, the Ukrainian city that the Russian military occupied in 2022.

Foundation investigators alleged that the construction firm paid numerous private bills on behalf of Ivanov’s wife, including to sponsor her jewelry purchases and the renovation of the family’s luxury villa.

A Moscow court froze Ivanov’s assets after Russia’s criminal investigation department said on Tuesday that Ivanov had been arrested for accepting a bribe, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years.

On the same day, a co-founder of Olimpcitistroi, Alexander Fomin, was also detained and charged with bribery.

Both Ivanov and Fomin deny the allegations, according to Ria, the public news agency.