The investigation into the russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov has likely pulled in the more senior First Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov. It has been reported that Ruslan Tsalikov has been questioned by the FSB in connection with the Timur Ivanov case. Ruslan Tsalikov has been described as a patron of Timur Ivanov. Ruslan Tsalikov is likely effectively number three in the Ministry of Defense hierarchy, after Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu and Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov. Like Timur Ivanov, Ruslan Tsalikov has long-standing connections with Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu. He worked under Sergei Shoygu in the Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations and followed Sergei Shoygu firstly to the Moscow Region Governorship and then in 2012 to the MOD, according to the UK Defense Intelligence.
There is also a realistic possibility that investigations into Timur Ivanov could also affect russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov with some sources claiming that MOD construction agencies built a house for Anton Siluanov.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence: russian Deputy Defense Minister Arrested
Corruption has long been a problem in the russian MOD. In 2019 Chief Military Prosecutor Valery Petrov said that corruption was “pretty much the root of most of the problems in the state of the rule of law”. Corruption was a factor in russia’s poor performance particularly early in the Ukraine war, where corruption was blamed for expired ration packs and poor-quality tyres, and fuel embezzlement was also reported.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence Analyzes the Attack on the Kushchyovskaya Airfield
