MOSCOW: Russian security services detained one of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu’s deputies on suspicion of taking major bribes, the highest-profile corruption case since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was detained on Tuesday, according to a brief 22-word statement by Russia’s investigative committee. The statute that the investigators cited for his detention is for accepting bribes “on a particularly large scale”.

He faces 15 years in jail if convicted.