Sunday, March 15, 2026 10:30:36 AM

Ruslan Tsalikov, a former deputy to Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu, has been accused of accepting bribes in the form of a motorcycle and 50 million rubles (about $65,000) in cash.

Investigators allege that Ruslan Tsalikov, the former first deputy defense minister of Russia, received bribes in the form of a motorcycle and 50 million rubles in cash in exchange for protecting Defense Ministry contractors, reports Kommersant, citing the Investigative Committee.

According to the newspaper, the first episode dates back to July 2019. Anton Abdurakhmanov, chairman of the board of directors of OAO Bamstroiput, allegedly gave Tsalikov a Honda Gold Wing motorcycle worth about 2.3 million rubles ($29,000). The vehicle was reportedly registered in the name of the official’s son. Abdurakhmanov has been arrested in absentia and placed on an international wanted list in a fraud case.

The second episode allegedly took place in April 2020. Investigators say Vladimir Semenov, the beneficiary of the Defense Ministry contractor Military Construction Company JSC (VSK), brought Tsalikov a leather bag containing 50 million rubles in cash at his office on Frunzenskaya Embankment in return for “general patronage” and assistance in obtaining and carrying out state contracts.

Kommersant reported that investigators uncovered that episode while probing another criminal case involving the alleged theft of more than 9 billion rubles ($112,630). The case is being handled by the Interior Ministry’s Investigative Department. Among those implicated are Yulia Mervaezova, first deputy minister of construction of the self-proclaimed “DPR,” Vadim Vygulyarny, head of Main Military Construction Directorate No. 8, as well as VSK chief Yevgeny Gorbachev and company beneficiary Vladimir Semenov.

According to investigators, Tsalikov also led a criminal group that allegedly stole more than 6.6 billion rubles from the state budget through army clothing supply contracts involving the company Voentorg. The former deputy minister faces charges including organizing a criminal community, 12 counts of embezzlement, laundering stolen funds, and two counts of taking bribes. If convicted on the charges filed against him, Tsalikov faces between 15 and 25 years in prison.

Tsalikov was detained on March 5. Later that same day, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court placed him under house arrest for one month and 29 days at the request of investigators. According to Kommersant, the court took into account the 69-year-old official’s health and his service to the state.

Tsalikov served as first deputy defense minister from December 2015 and was considered one of Sergei Shoigu’s closest allies. In June 2024, President Vladimir Putin removed him from office. According to Kommersant, Tsalikov denies the charges against him.

A week after Tsalikov’s arrest, another official from Shoigu’s circle also lost his post. On March 12, Vladimir Putin dismissed Pavel Konovalchik, an aide to the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, who had joined the council’s apparatus in the summer of 2024 alongside the former defense minister. Konovalchik was seen as part of Shoigu’s team and had previously served in military intelligence units linked to signals intelligence and cyber operations.

(c)UAWIRE 2026