A poisonous feud has opened inside the Putin war-mongering regime with the arrest of the dictator’s deputy defence minister on suspicion of corruption and possibly treason.
Timur Ivanov, 48, is the closest aide to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, in charge of the war against Ukraine. The wealthy minister - fond of glamorous women and lavish parties - appeared in the dock today in military fatigues accused of taking a bribe.
Yet one news outlet today sensationally claimed Vladimir Putin has been convinced by unknown briefings that Ivanov has committed treason - and this is the real reason for his detention.
“A bribe is for the public. So far they don’t want to talk publicly about treason - it’s a big scandal, after all [he is] the Deputy Minister of Defence,” a source told Important Stories news outlet.
“No one would have detained him for corruption. Everyone there [in the Kremlin] knew about this for a long time,” said a security source. Putin gave the command after he managed to convince us that we were talking about treason.”
After appearing in court, Ivanov was then humiliatingly ordered to change into civilian clothes before being taken away for two months of pre-trial detention from Basmanny district court in Moscow pending an FSB secret service probe into alleged corruption.
He was seen being held and pushed by the neck by an FSB officer. An alleged accomplice, Sergei Borodin, was also detained. His court appearance was shown widely by the state media suggesting a show trial is on the way, with a potential jail sentence of 15 years.
Ivanov, who holds a rank equivalent to an army general and was handcuffed in his office at the Defence Ministry, has now been slammed in grim Lefortovo jail in Moscow.
The colourful Ivanov is known as one of Putin’s wealthiest security officials and the dictator along with Shoigu was informed in advance that he was to be held
The arrest was seen as evidence of warring clans vying for power as Putin shuffles his regime following his latest inauguration next month.
Ivanov’s humiliation could spell bad news for Shoigu who loses his key sidekick in the midst of war. The detained deputy minister had been nicknamed “Shoigu’s wallet”.
But the detained minister is also close to Putin’s own mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov, who is also deputy head of the Kremlin administration. At one event Peskov - Putin’s official spokesman - wore a bear’s outfit as he partied alongside Ivanov.
Ivanov has ridden numerous past claims of corruption as he ran the military’s infrastructure budget and rebuilt the blitzed and invaded Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
And corruption is endemic in the Putin regime, so analysts are searching to explain ‘why him and why now’. The Important Stories security-linked source said: “Now they are deciding what to do with him [Ivanov].
“Either they will jail him for a bribe and ‘finish him off’ in the [war] zone, or reclassify the charge as treason.” Ivanov’s stepson, whom he shared skiing trips with, is reportedly educated in Britain - despite the war against Ukraine.
And have claimed a divorce seven months after the war started from his wife socialite ex-TV star Svetlana Zakharova [Maniovich] - fond of posing semi-nude in the Maldives - was a “sham” to protect from Western sanctions as she carried on a lavish life in Britain, France and other European countries.
The couple boasted 11 vehicles including Mercedes-Benz and Bentley cars, while Ivanov’s daughter has an apartment in Mexico. Svetlana, 52, rents expensive villas in St Tropez and prefers to travel by Rolls-Royce, according to an expose by ‘murdered’ Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team last year.
“We could not find any evidence of the reality of the breakup between [Svetlana] and Ivanov,” said the team at the time. She “radiates richness - diamonds, furs, Rolls Royces, she has it all and more.
“In summer you can find her in St Tropez where she rents a villa for €150k/month, or on a yacht in Naples… She loves shopping. Sadly, Moscow doesn’t satisfy her fashion needs, so she has to travel to Paris.
“She gets personal appointments at one of the most expensive and discrete fine jewellery stores. This is where she gets €150K earrings and €104K rings made for her.”
She and Ivanov the couple share two daughters - Praskovya, born in 2018, and Darya, born in 2010. Baza media outlet today reported that Svetlana was “of interest to the investigation” into alleged Ivanov corruption.
There are even unconfirmed claims she had been arrested - even though the couple are not believed to be together currently.
More recently rumours have surfaced that the womanising Ivanov is now romantically linked to with Shoigu’s close former advisor Maria Kitaeva, another ex-TV presenter, born in Belgium and close to Putin.
In fact, Ivanov had taken Kitaeva who was married to his fellow deputy defence minister, Ukrainian-born Yuri Sadovenko. As the new relationship was sealed she bought Ivanov monogrammed pyjamas with the letters MK and TI. She had previously hosted the annual Direct Line with Putin TV question and answer extravaganza.
Ivanov has been sanctioned by the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Ukraine, Switzerland, and New Zealand since 2022 over Putin’s invasion. The FSB has been probing Ivanov for five years, say reports. Searches are now underway in “dozens” of locations linked to him and his “Batman” Borodin who owns multiple companies.