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April 26, 2024 - 7:00am
The investigation into Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov seems, at a glance, an open-and-shut case. This week, the man dubbed “the King of Kickbacks” by colleagues was arrested on charges of “grand bribery”, specifically having received a “bribe as part of an organised group while performing contracted and subcontracted work for the Defence Ministry”. If found guilty, Ivanov faces up to 15 years’ imprisonment.
The charge reportedly came as a surprise to Ivanov but perhaps should not have done, given the evidence against him. Named by Forbes as Russia’s richest person in uniform as far back as 2019, his “glamorous life” was the subject of an entire investigation by Alexei Navalny’s team in 2022, which further claimed that Ivanov’s responsibility for military infrastructure projects allowed him to profit from reconstruction in occupied Mariupol.
Indeed, one wonders what took Russian investigators so long to realise that Ivanov was leading a rather lavish lifestyle for a military man; a glance at social media revealed his wife’s passion for boutique shopping, European travel and — somewhat bizarrely – thrones.
Assuming that even the FSB is not that slow on the uptake, the question remains as to why the authorities would instigate an investigation now, Ivanov having long had a reputation for opulence. The answer may lie in his deep association with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. A close ally and confidante of Shoigu, Ivanov has worked with him across various agencies for over 10 years. The very public nature of Ivanov’s arrest — detained at his workplace, the case covered by state media, images broadcast from court — all imply that his downfall is a warning to others. TASS specifically noted that “Shoigu has been updated on the situation.”
Adding to the speculation, independent Russian media quoted FSB sources as saying that the actual reason for Ivanov’s arrest was not bribery but instead state treason. While the exact nature of such treason is unknown and the Kremlin dismissed the claims, it is interesting to note that Ivanov was reportedly involved in negotiations with the son of late mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin for Wagner’s control of natural resources.
Those sources further claimed that Ivanov only avoided arrest earlier thanks to his boss’s continued patronage, his detention a possible sign of Shoigu’s declining influence. Russian defence sources told Forbes that the arrest may herald further removals of those close to Shoigu and the Defence Minister’s own eventual departure. Last month, Vladimir Putin ordered the FSB — which arrested Ivanov — to root out corruption in state defence procurement, an easy cover for a purge.
These are not the only clues that Shoigu may be under pressure. His recent statements, following the passage of US military aid for Kyiv, that Russia “will increase the intensity of attacks” and “continue to carry out assigned tasks until the goals of the special operation are fulfilled” may, on reflection, be the words not of a committed soldier but of a man under pressure to demonstrate significant battlefield progress.
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SubscribeThrones, as opposed to gold wallpaper…?
Putin looks glum in that photo….
The photo will have been chosen because he looks glum in it. Normal media tricks.
Find a recent picture where Putin looks other than glum.
He looks like a Bassett Hound we used to own when I was a kid.
He’s committed the biggest military blunder since Pearl Harbour. Of course he’s glum.
The amount of parallels between Hitler and Putin is uncanny.
Putin’s war has actually achieved the exact opposite of what he said he set out to achieve. Far from preventing NATO encroaching on Russia’s border he’s persuaded Sweden and Finland to join NATO, got thousands more NATO troops on Russia’s border and doubled the length of Russia’s border with NATO. Not to mention hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers dead, the Russian military exposed as a paper tiger. Russia is now a worse international pariah than N Korea, Russia culturally, scientifically and economically isolated. Well done Putin, you’ll certainly go down in history.
It sounds as though Ivanov should stay away from windows.
Hillary may have an extraordinarily large circle of suicide acquaintance; Putin doesn’t strike me as being afraid to just kill someone more or less openly.
Putin’s attack on Ukraine and allegiance to China is a disaster for Russia. Russia’s military has been destroyed by Ukraine and they now depend on China. China will betray them and eat up Siberia. Russia may get a ruined province in the West and loose the east. When they beg for help from the west, no one will help due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Russia should have joined NATO and arranged for the US Army to guard Vladivostok. Now expect Russia to be dismembered. The allegiance to Iran will be even more disastrous. The bible states that Russia will be broken on the mountains of Israel.
There is a school of thought that says that Russia has already told China that any attack by China on Russian territory in the East won’t be met by troops on the battlefield, it will be met with a nuclear strike on Beijing. I can’t put forward any authority to support it, but it seems plausible.