A Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced Timur Ivanov, Russia’s longtime deputy defence minister, to 13 years in a penal colony after convicting him on high-profile corruption charges.
The verdict marks the harshest penalty yet in a series of graft investigations targeting senior officials within the Russian Defence Ministry during the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Ivanov, 49, who had overseen military construction projects since his 2016 appointment, was arrested in April 2024. Prosecutors accused him of embezzling more than 4 billion rubles (about $50 million) through foreign bank transfers and siphoning additional funds during the purchase of ferries for the Crimea crossing.
The court also fined Ivanov 100 million rubles (approximately $1.2 million) and stripped him of all state honours. Authorities ordered the confiscation of property, luxury vehicles, and cash valued at 2.5 billion rubles.
The trial was held behind closed doors due to concerns about state secrecy. Ivanov, who denied all charges, was reportedly smiling as the sentence was read. His lawyer denounced the proceedings as a “show trial” and indicated plans to appeal.
Ivanov’s conviction is the most severe for a high-ranking Russian official in recent history and comes amid a sweeping Kremlin-led crackdown on corruption within the defence sector. Over a dozen officials have been detained in related cases, including Anton Filatov, a former chief of logistics at the Defence Ministry, who received a 12.5-year sentence.
Ivanov, once considered a close ally of former Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, had drawn public scrutiny for his lavish lifestyle, especially as Russia’s military faced setbacks and resource shortages in Ukraine. The case highlights President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to tighten oversight of military spending as defence expenditures reach record highs during the conflict.
