Two potential key witnesses in a high-profile corruption case involving former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu have died under suspicious circumstances.
On the same day, Igor Kotelnokov, a 52-year-old businessman, and Colonel General Magomed Khandaev, the 61-year-old head of the Ministry of Defense’s state expertise department, were reported dead.
Kotelnokov was being held in Moscow’s Detention Center No. 4, where he allegedly died from “heart problems.” He was a suspect in a bribery case connected to former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who allegedly acted under Shoigu’s direction.
According to investigators, Kotelnokov was an intermediary who secured lucrative contracts for entrepreneurs cooperating with the Ministry of Defense in exchange for kickbacks.
Colonel General Khandaev, who previously served as the director-general of the Main Directorate of Special Construction and was directly subordinate to Ivanov, was interrogated as a witness in the case but was not detained. The cause of his death remains undisclosed.
Timur Ivanov, who was detained at his workplace in April.
In a move on May 12, President Vladimir Putin decided to remove Sergei Shoigu, who had led the ministry for almost 12 years, and appointed Belousov in his place.
The deaths of these two individuals, both of whom were closely linked to the corruption case, have sparked widespread speculation and concern about potential foul play and the broader implications for the investigation into bribery at the highest levels of the Russian military establishment.
Sergei Shoigu’s wallets
Although Shoigu had a dozen deputies, Ivanov was among his closest allies. Their ties go back more than a decade, first working together in the Moscow regional government before Ivanov followed his boss into the defense ministry.
Russia’s TASS news agency reported that Ivanov’s lawyer denies the charges, but Shoigu fired him last week.
In his latest job overseeing military construction, Ivanov was in charge of some of Russia’s most prestigious projects, including a giant military-themed cathedral and patriotic theme park on the outskirts of Moscow and, more recently, reconstruction work in the ruined city of Mariupol in occupied Ukraine.
His access to astronomic funds earned him the nickname “Shoigu’s wallet.”
Rather than hide his wealth, Ivanov flaunted it. For years, tabloids and independent journalists documented his love for women, opulent real estate, designer clothes and trips to the French Riviera.
But in Russia, leading a lifestyle which is incongruent with a government salary is not unusual, let alone reason for arrest.
A 2022 investigation into Ivanov by the team of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny described how Ivanov on one occasion pulled down the sleeve of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov to cover up a luxury watch on his wrist — an apparent example of how Putin’s elite shield each other from scrutiny.
It is safe to say something has changed to make Ivanov, a well-connected insider who in normal times would have been considered untouchable, a target.
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