"Taking into account the realities": the prosecutor's office asked to close the trial of former deputy Shoigu

The trial of former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov in the case of bribes worth 1.3 billion rubles should be held behind closed doors. This was announced today, April 24, by a representative of the prosecutor's office in the Simonovsky court of Moscow, RIA Novosti reports.

"During the preliminary investigation, among other facts, it was established that Ivanov signed 94 contracts on behalf of the Ministry of Defense in 2018-2023... taking into account current realities, the study of these materials may lead to the disclosure of legally protected secrets, I ask you to conduct the process behind closed doors," the state prosecutor said.

As EADaily reported, after familiarizing himself with the second criminal case, the ex-Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Timur Ivanov wanted to conclude a pre-trial agreement with the prosecutor's office. He stated that he was ready to "report on the illegal activities of a number of persons who held responsible positions in the authorities," which law enforcement agencies do not know about, without specifying who exactly they were talking about.

Recall that Timur Ivanov became Deputy Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (from 2024 — Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation) in 2016, supervised issues related to the social block, property management and housing of troops, housing and medical care. He was responsible for the construction, reconstruction and overhaul of facilities of the Russian Ministry of Defense and military mortgages. Prior to that, he also worked under the leadership of Shoigu when he was governor of the Moscow region. In 2019, he entered the ranking of the richest security officials in Russia according to Forbes (first place).

On April 23, 2024, Ivanov was detained on suspicion of receiving a bribe in the amount of 1 billion 185 million rubles. On July 1, 2025, the Moscow City Court sentenced Ivanov to 13 years in a penal colony with a fine of 100 million rubles in the case of embezzlement of money when buying ferries for the Kerch crossing. The First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in September recognized the verdict as lawful.

Now Ivanov is in jail, but pleads not guilty.