“Tragedy for Shoigu”: The “Rolls-Royce General” of Russia is arrested

The arrest of the deputy defense minister in Moscow on suspicion of corruption is a political sensation. He is a confidant of Putin’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Summer after summer family vacation in Saint Tropez, in villas that were rented for 150,000 euros, 120,000 euros vacation Rolls-Royce, second to Moscow, six million dollar dacha on the street of Moscow millionaires Rublyovka , a luxury house there. in the city center which also cost six million euros, registered to a company registered to its driver. And the photographer wife whose ex-husband had personally warned her that she needed at least $50,000 in spending money every month.

Timur Ivanov, 48, a general and deputy defense minister of Russia, enjoyed a life of luxury that his annual official salary of around 136,000 euros could not afford. Alexei Navalny’s FBK anti-corruption institute reported on this in detail at the end of 2022. But Navalny is dead and his FBK has been declared an extremist organization in Russia.

Yesterday, however, the Moscow court detained Timur Ivanov, in fact for a large bribe. A big surprise for political Russia. In fact, Ivanov, an accountant, controlled large projects in the Ministry of Construction that were worth bribes, such as the construction of the “Patriot” battlefield near Moscow, which cost about 300 million euros. But pushing on Public construction sites have long been considered a minor offense in Russia. And Ivanov is a confidant of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who brought him from the Moscow regional government to the ministry in 2012. There are already rumors in the capital if Shoigu himself has broken with Vladimir Putin.

“No one would arrest Ivanov for corruption,” an anonymous secret service agent told the exile website Vashnye Istorii. The Kremlin has known about this for a long time. Reporter Maxim Shevchenko also says that Ivanov belonged to Shoigu’s inner circle. “This is a disaster for Shoigu.â€

Is the strike aimed at the military elite?

Shevchenko believes that the strike is aimed at the entire ranks of the military elite who have been entrenched in a life of luxury for decades. And Shevchenko and several war bloggers assure that the capture of Ivanov has greatly improved the morale of many officers and soldiers. “There is joy ahead, as if a great place has been captured,” writes the expert Oleg Zarev in the Telegraph.

There should also be some complacency among the security agencies. According to the portal lenta.ru, the FSB has been collecting material against Ivanov for five years. FSB director Alexander Bortnikov is seen as Shoigu’s rival for Putin’s favor. And according to two intelligence sources in Vashniye Istorii, bribery charges against Ivanov are aimed at the general public, he is suspected of treason. Putin authorized the arrest of Ivanov after he was convinced that it was a case of treason.

During Stalin’s time, high-ranking party officials were shot as state traitors, and the charge of treason against Ivanov may now also mean Shoigu’s political death. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed yesterday that Shoigu had been informed about the arrest of his deputy ahead of time. But Peskov, who is considered a liberal nationalist, may also be worried now: There are videos showing him having a good time at a party with Ivanov and his expensive wife.