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.