One of the most high-profile corruption cases in Russia has come to a close today (01.07.2025), as Timur Ivanov, former Deputy Defense Minister, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Ivanov was arrested in April 2024 on bribery charges, with additional embezzlement allegations added by Russian investigators in October of the same year. According to reports from the state news agency TASS, he was ultimately found guilty of corruption and handed down a lengthy prison sentence.
This case is part of a wider wave of corruption scandals that have rocked Russia’s defense establishment over recent years. More than a dozen individuals, including two other former deputy ministers, have been implicated in similar cases.
The downfall of Timur Ivanov began with an investigation led by associates of Alexei Navalny, the late leader of Russia’s opposition who died in prison on February 16, 2024. The probe revealed extravagant spending by Ivanov and his wife Svetlana, including over one million euros spent on luxury holidays, yachts, villas, high-end fashion, and jewelry.
According to the findings, a company involved in the reconstruction of war-torn Mariupol covered the expenses for Ivanov’s lavish lifestyle. Navalny’s team, having accessed private emails belonging to Svetlana Ivanova, claimed that in 2018 alone, the couple spent at least 850,000 euros renting villas in Saint-Tropez, France. That same year, they celebrated Timur Ivanov’s birthday in Istanbul with a trip costing approximately 178,000 euros.
Earlier, the Ivanovs purchased a Rolls-Royce Corniche valued at 120,000 euros, spending an additional 75,000 euros on renovations. Notably, their officially declared annual income was nearly five times lower than the cost of this single purchase.
It was also revealed that several accounts linked to Svetlana Ivanova, particularly those related to jewelry purchases, were paid by subcontractors of the Defense Ministry, notably the company ‘Olimpsitstroi’, which builds housing in Mariupol.