Russian deputy defense minister charged over $11 million bribe – lawyer

The Moscow City Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal lodged by the legal team of Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who is being held on bribery charges. The court refused to release him to house arrest, leaving him in pre-trial detention.

While Ivanov’s legal team insisted that he will not flee, investigators argued that he could try to escape the country, potentially heading for the EU, Murad Musayev, his lawyer, told RIA Novosti. Musayev dismissed this, pointing out that the official had been placed on various Western sanctions lists. He vowed to challenge the ruling at a court of cassation.

The official is accused of receiving services from military construction contractors estimated at nearly 1 billion rubles (around $10.8 million), Musayev revealed. “Ivanov’s contractors had allegedly built facilities for him for free, which is not true,” the lawyer stated.

The court also dismissed an appeal made by a close associate of Ivanov, Sergey Borodin, who is facing the same charges and is believed to have been involved in the corruption scheme. Borodin was arrested shortly after the deputy defense minister was taken into custody.

Ivanov was arrested on April 23 hours after taking part in an extended ministerial meeting led by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. The official has been accused of taking bribes on an exceptionally large scale, with the offence carrying a penalty of up to 15 years behind bars. Ivanov has been temporarily suspended from his post, according to Musayev.

Ivanov is a senior public official who has been involved in the country’s energy and construction sectors. Prior to assuming his current post in 2016, in which he has overseen military construction, he led military construction contractor Oboronstroy, and worked at several high-profile state-owned energy and construction companies.