It is reported that the reason for Ivanov's arrest was that he violated Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Russia, that is, the amount of bribes accepted exceeds 1 million rubles, and 1 million rubles is the minimum threshold for extraordinarily large amounts, and the maximum sentence is 15 years in prison. After the news broke, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the news of Ivanov's arrest had been informed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
At first glance, this seems to be a simple corruption case, after all, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, both Ukraine and Russia have made great efforts in anti-corruption, and there is no shortage of high-ranking officials who have been dismissed. Especially at the critical moment when Russia's economy is tight, as a senior official of the Russian Ministry of Defense, it is more important to spend military expenses on the blade rather than in his own pocket.
But judging from the amount of money involved this time and Ivanov's identity, this matter does not seem to be so simple.
[Russian Deputy Defense Minister Ivanov detained on suspicion of accepting bribes]
From the Russian briefing, we can learn that the amount of bribes accepted by Ivanov this time just exceeded one million rubles, that is, more than 70,000 yuan, which, in my opinion, is actually not much. And it stands to reason that Ivanov is already in a high position in the Russian Ministry of Defense, so he naturally does not have to worry about eating and drinking in life, and Putin will definitely not be treated badly in terms of treatment, so there is no need to risk this million rubles at all.
Although I don't know exactly how much Ivanov earned, we can briefly compare them.
Last year, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement revealing the salary standards for contract soldiers in Russia's special military operation, among which the salary of riflemen is the lowest, at 204,000 rubles per month, while the salaries of commanders, privates and drivers will be higher, about 220,000 rubles per month.
You must know that contract soldiers are temporarily hired to fight wars, and they can get such a high salary, and Ivanov, as the second-in-command of the Russian Ministry of Defense, has a salary designation that is many times higher than that of contract soldiers, so how can he bury his future for a mere million rubles. In other words, even if Ivanov wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make some war money, he must have been tempted by a huge amount of money, and this million rubles was only a few months' salary, maybe even a month's salary, and it was not worth Ivanov's risk.
【Born in Kyoto】
On the other hand, let's talk about Ivanov's special status.
Ivanov, born in 1975, graduated from Moscow University with a degree in mathematics, and in 2012, he was appointed deputy governor of Moscow Oblast.
From these experiences, it is not difficult to see that Ivanov is deeply appreciated by Putin and is Putin's confidant. The reason why Ivanov can become a member of Putin's inner circle, in addition to his outstanding work ability, is because he has a close relationship with Russian Defense Minister Shoigu and is a capable officer under him, and the two served in the Moscow regional government at the same time, and shortly after Shoigu became defense minister, Ivanov was unusually promoted to deputy minister.
After taking office as deputy defense minister, Ivanov was in full charge of army supplies, barracks construction, and medical support, and all major army infrastructure projects needed his approval. At the moment, he is in charge of the reconstruction of Mariupol, which involves a large amount of financial allocation, and the Russian side believes that Ivanov embezzled money for the reconstruction work.
[Ivanov's life is not poor]
Although corruption is indeed a "cancer" that endangers the country and should indeed be punished, Ivanov has gone from Putin's "confidant" to today's prisoner, and this span is indeed a bit large. Especially at the moment when there is an urgent need to employ people, Putin did not give Ivanov any chance to explain, nor did he give Shoigu face, but chose to directly arrest him and deal with the matter in a high-profile manner, it is difficult to believe that all this is only because of this million rubles.
Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that the Russian side is likely to pull Ivanov down under the guise of corruption, and the real reason may be two.
First of all, one thing is certain, Ivanov's mistake this time has reached the point that Putin can no longer cover it up, otherwise Putin would not have dealt a heavy hand. It is worth mentioning that after Putin's successful re-election last month, the first order he issued was to investigate all those who betrayed Russia and punish them indefinitely. As a result, it has not been more than a month now, and Ivanov has been dismissed, so it cannot be ruled out that Ivanov participated in the leak and had an impact on the war, so he was directly arrested.
Of course, this also means that Ivanov defected and stood on the opposite side of Putin. What is involved behind this may be the partisan struggle within Russia. After all, Putin has just been re-elected, and it is inevitable that he will have to put things in order and remove unreliable people from the ranks. It is not unreasonable to put personal feelings and national security together, and Putin will definitely choose the latter.