President Putin and Defense Minister Shoigu have been briefed on the detention
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov has been arrested on suspicion of bribery, the country’s Investigative Committee announced on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu have been briefed on the arrest, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ivanov took part in an extended ministerial meeting led by Shoigu that included numerous senior Russian officials and top military commanders.
While the Committee effectively provided no details about the affair, it said that Ivanov is suspected of taking bribes on a large scale. According to the relevant clause in the Russian penal code cited by the Committee, such bribes involve sums of at least 1 million rubles (over $10,500). If found guilty, Ivanov could face up to 15 years behind bars.
Ivanov has been long involved in the country’s energy and construction sectors and has worked at several high-profile state-owned companies. He led the military construction contractor Oboronstroy, a company whose primary purpose is building residential homes for servicemen, between 2013 and 2016. He was then appointed to his current post where he oversees military construction within the ministry.
Niger has threatened legal action against Orano after allegedly finding 400 barrels of harmful radioactive core materials near a uranium site
Niger’s military government has accused French state nuclear group Orano of “radioactive pollution” and “predatory behavior” after officials said they found hundreds of barrels of radioactive waste abandoned near a former uranium site in the north of the country.
The Mining Ministry said inspectors discovered about 400 barrels of dangerously high levels of radioactive core materials at Madaouela, close to the uranium hub of Arlit, where Orano used to operate. Local measurements reportedly peaked at 10 microsieverts per hour, compared with a normal level of 0.5. Authorities also said tests found harmful substances capable of causing respiratory disorders.
Niger’s justice minister, Alio Daouda, told reporters on Tuesday that the company will face legal proceedings for “mass crimes,” including harm to the environment, public health,...
Sofia Lyskun cited political pressure to cut ties with Russia as among the reasons for her decision
European diving champion Sofia Lyskun has renounced her Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Russian passport, citing political pressure in Ukraine to cut ties with Russia. The head of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee, Vadim Guttsait, called her decision a “betrayal.”
A four-time European champion and two-time Olympian, Lyskun claimed she was repeatedly reprimanded for staying in touch with her first coach, who had relocated to Moscow after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. She said staff at training camps told her that “no one else was in contact with Russians,” and she could not understand why such remarks were directed at her.
The 23-year-old Lugansk native argued that Ukrainian sport portrayed itself as “outside politics,” yet athletes “were the first to feel the pressure.”....more below
https://www.rt.com/russia/628964-ukrainian-diver-russian-passport/
Brussels and Kiev are covering up for each other instead of “confronting the truth,” the Hungarian leader says
The EU is still claiming “the moral high ground” despite “drowning” in corruption, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said, accusing Brussels and Kiev of “shielding” each other from graft scandals.
Orban ripped into the EU leadership on Friday in an interview with Kossuth Radio, invoking the latest corruption scandal that hit the bloc earlier this week. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has formally accused three high-profile suspects, including the bloc’s former foreign policy chief and EU Commission vice president, Federica Mogherini, of fraud, corruption, conflict of interest, and breaches of professional secrecy.
The Hungarian PM drew parallels between the affair and the string of graft scandals that has hit Ukraine, including the $100 million kickback scheme linked to Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle. Despite the scandal, ...
