A Russian court on Wednesday formally arrested Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov and charged him with bribery, the court said, following his detention on Tuesday. The court remanded Ivanov in custody for two months and said that according to the charges he had put himself in a position to benefit from hiring contractors for the ministry where he oversaw construction activities.
The sudden arrest of an ally of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom President Vladimir Putin tasked with fighting the war in Ukraine, triggered speculation about a battle within the elite and of a public crackdown on the corruption which has plagued Russia’s post-Soviet armed forces. The Kremlin said Putin had been informed, and added that Shoigu had also been told. Ivanov was present earlier on Tuesday at a meeting of top defence officials chaired by Shoigu.
