According to British intelligence, the FSB of the Russian Federation interrogated the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, Ruslan Tsalikov, in the case of corruption in the department.
The Kremlin hit another henchman of Shoigu
The Ministry of Defense of Great Britain noted that FSB had interrogated the higher-ranking First Deputy Minister of Defen e Ruslan Tsalikov in investigating Sergei Shoigu's deputy, Timur Ivanov.
What is essential to understand is that he is often called Ivanov's patron.
Moreover, he is de facto the third person in the hierarchy of the Ministry of Defenсe of the Russian Federation, after Defenсe Minister Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov.
The FSB of the Russian Federation has already interrogated Tsalikov concerning Ivanov's case.
Like Ivanov, Tsalikov has long-standing ties with Defense Minister Shoigu. He worked under Shoigu in the Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations, and then followed him first to the office of the governor of the Moscow region, and then in 2012 to the Ministry of Defense, British intelligence sources say.
Putin can also punish other government officials from Shoigu's entourage
As the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain notes, the investigation into Ivanov may affect the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Anton Siluanov, because some insiders claim that the construction agencies of the Ministry of Defense built a house for him.
Corruption has long been a problem in the Russian Ministry of Defense. In 2019, Chief Military Prosecutor Valery Petrov stated that corruption is "pretty much the root of most problems in the rule of law."
It is also important to recollect the fact that corruption was one of the factors of Russia's low efficiency, especially at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
