Moscow's Simonovsky District Court has closed the second trial of former Russian deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov on bribery charges totalling RUB1.3bn ($15.69mn) to the public and media, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported on April 24, citing RIA Novosti.

The former official worked in the ministry since 2016 and was most recently tasked with overseeing Russia’s military infrastructure projects, including the rebuilding of occupied Mariupol. He is thought to be a good friend of Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu. The Ivanov case was among the highest-profile corruption prosecutions within the Russian defence ministry in recent years and came shortly before Shoigu himself was moved from the defence portfolio to head the Security Council.

Prosecutors requested the closure on the grounds that the case file contained details of 94 contracts Ivanov had concluded on behalf of the Russian defence ministry between 2018 and 2023, the examination of which could lead to the disclosure of state secrets.

"In the course of the preliminary investigation, among other facts, it was established that Ivanov concluded 94 contracts on behalf of the Ministry of Defence from 2018 to 2023. Given current realities, the examination of these materials could lead to the disclosure of state-protected secrets, so I request the process be held in closed session," the prosecutor said.

The Simonovsky Court began hearing the Ivanov case on three counts of bribery totalling over RUB1.3bn, along with large-scale money laundering, illegal storage and the modification of weapons. Ivanov has denied the charges.

Businessman Alexander Fomin appears on the defendants' bench alongside Ivanov, having admitted guilt during the preliminary investigation stage. Fomin has confessed to paying bribes in exchange for official leniency. The case against a third defendant, Sergey Borodin, who has reached a plea agreement with investigators, has been separated into independent proceedings.

On April 2024, he was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in his place of work, accused of accepting bribes "on a particularly large scale.”  Prosecutors argue that he then used this money to fund a lavish lifestyle.

Ivanov has been accused by many people, including the deceased opposition figure Alexey Navalny, of being corrupt. Many in Russia have long believed that he has enriched himself and his family through kickbacks from military contracts.

However, citing sources within the FSB, the news outlet iStories claimed that bribery charges may actually be serving as a cover story for a more serious investigation into treason. “The bribery charges]are for the public. They don’t want to talk publicly about treason right now. It’s a big scandal,” one of the sources told iStories. 

Another source stated that President Vladimir Putin himself ordered the arrest. According to Russian state media, Ivanov will be remanded in custody in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison.

In 2022, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation reported that Ivanov’s family had bought numerous high-value properties near Moscow. Subsequently, an investigation found that Ivanov’s wife, Svetlana Zakharova, had spent substantial sums on jewellery, designer clothing, and trips in Europe, mainly to Paris. It was alleged that much of these expenses were funded by military contractors.