In the midst of the war in Ukraine, Russia is now apparently struggling with corruption problems right up to the top of the Defense Ministry. The domestic secret service is investigating.
At the end of April, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was arrested following corruption allegations, and now these investigations could also affect another Russian Deputy Defense Minister. This is reported by the British Ministry of Defense, citing unspecified Russian sources.
Accordingly, Ruslan Zalikov, who is the first deputy defense minister above Ivanov, was questioned by the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB in connection with the Ivanov case. Already at the end of April, a Russian insider source claimed, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), that the Russian Defense Ministry could force Zalikov into retirement and that the authorities could file criminal charges against him. However, the ISW was unable to independently confirm the claims.
Zalikov is likely number three in the Russian Defense Ministry hierarchy – behind Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, according to the British Defense Ministry. He is considered a supporter of Ivanov and, like Ivanov, has long been closely linked to Shoigu.
Finance minister could also be involved
Zalikov worked under Shoigu in the Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations, then followed him first to the Moscow governor’s office and finally to the Defense Ministry in 2012.
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According to the British Ministry of Defense, there is also “a realistic possibility” that the investigation against Ivanov could also affect Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. Some sources claim that Defense Ministry contractors built a house for Siluanov.
Corruption is widespread among Russia’s power elites
Timur Ivanov was arrested on the evening of April 23 on suspicion of accepting bribes. However, the allegations did not come as a complete surprise: at the end of 2022, the name appeared in research by the team of the now deceased Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny.
It accused Ivanov of building and repairing several properties in and around Moscow using Defense Ministry contract workers. He was also accused of “corruption during construction in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.” You can read more about the allegations against Ivanov here.
Corruption is widespread among the Russian power elite and is mostly tolerated. In the early days of the war in Ukraine, corruption was also said to be responsible for expired ration packages and poor-quality tires. The misappropriation of fuel was also reported, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
