New accusations of corruption in the Russian army. The former first deputy of Șoigu was detained
The former Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Ruslan Tsalikov, who between 2015 and 2024 was the first deputy of the former minister Serghei Șoigu, was detained by the authorities on Thursday, being accused of acts of corruption, EFE and Agerpres report.
“The former deputy minister of defense, Ruslan Tsalikov, has been arrested. The decision on preventive detention is in progress,” said the spokeswoman of the Investigative Committee, the institution in charge of major investigations in Russia.
The judicial authorities have opened a criminal case against the former deputy minister “for the creation of a criminal group, whose members embezzled budget funds between 2017 and 2024, as well as for money laundering and bribery”, a total of 12 charges, the same institution stated.
Ruslan Tsalikov was previously questioned three times in the case against his colleague, Timur Ivanov, a former deputy defense minister from 2016 to 2024, who was sentenced last July to 13 years in prison for embezzling more than 216 million rubles (the equivalent of about $2.7 million) in a deal related to the purchase of two ferries for the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia of the annexed Crimean peninsula, and the withdrawal of more than 3.9 billion rubles (about 50 million dollars) from the Interkommert bank.
If Ruslan Tsalikov is ultimately sentenced to prison, he will be the highest-ranking Russian defense official jailed following President Vladimir Putin's 2024 purge of military commanders and other senior Russian officials suspected of corruption, which involved a deep restructuring of the Defense Ministry.
Former Deputy Minister Timur Ivanov made a request two weeks ago to be sent to fight at the front in Ukraine to escape prison.
