First Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov, who has allegedly already been interrogated by the FSB, may probably be involved in the investigation against Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Timur Ivanov on suspicion of corruption.
This is stated in the British Ministry of Defense intelligence report on May 1.
Detention of Shoigu’s deputy: how will this affect other officials in the Russian Federation
— Tsalikov is called the patron of Ivanov. Tsalikov is probably actually the third person in the hierarchy of the Ministry of Defense after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov, — they say in intelligence.
They are watching now
They note that Tsalikov, like Ivanov, has long-standing ties with Shoigu, and worked with him when he still headed the Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations, and then followed him first to the governorship of the Moscow region, and in 2012 — to the Ministry of Defense.
— There is also a real possibility that the investigation into Ivanov could also affect Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, as some sources claim that the Ministry of Armor's construction agencies built a house for Siluanov, — intelligence suggests.
According to the conclusions of British intelligence officers, corruption in the Russian Ministry of Defense is one of the main problems that affected the effectiveness of the Russian army, especially at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On April 23, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was detained in Russia on suspicion of bribery, and the next day he was arrested by court order.
Some media outlets, citing intelligence agencies, reported that Timur Ivanov ended up in a Russian pre-trial detention center and is being persecuted by the Putin regime precisely as a result of the active measures of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
After Ukrainian intelligence officers gained access to the official documentation of Shoigu’s deputy in March 2024, Russian investigative authorities began an investigation against him on charges of corruption.
