The Russian Investigative Committee has reported that Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov has been detained on suspicion of taking bribes.
“Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Vladimirovich Ivanov has been detained on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 290, paragraph 6 (bribery) of the Russian Criminal Code,” the committee said in a written statement.
Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said the necessary investigation into the incident was under way.
A law enforcement source told the Interfax agency that Ivanov would soon be referred to court for arrest.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: ‘Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed that Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov has been detained. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was also informed earlier,” Peskov said.
The relevant article of the Criminal Code contains a charge of ‘large-scale bribery’. The charge covers bribery offences involving more than 1 million roubles.
Such offences carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years or a fine of up to seventy times the amount of the bribe.
According to the Defence Ministry’s website, Ivanov, 49, graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1997.
Between 1999 and 2012, he worked in the country’s fuel and energy companies and then in the government of the Moscow region.
In May 2016, he was appointed deputy defence minister of Russia by presidential decree.
