Details of the death of the head of the Defense Ministry’s state expertise department Khandayev: reasons, connection with the death of other employees of the department

Details have emerged regarding the death of the head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s state expert department, Colonel General Magomed Khandayev, a subordinate of former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov. The circumstances of the incident were revealed by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel (included in the register of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice).

According to the source, traces of an unknown injection were allegedly found on the general’s body. Also, as the publication claims, on July 6-7, Khandayev was taken to a dacha in the Moscow region by his relative. “And already on July 8, he was found there on a bench with no signs of life. The cause of death was not officially disclosed, but the “VChK-OGPU” learned that a trace of an unknown injection was found on the back of his left forearm,” the publication says.

Khandayev was directly subordinate to Ivanov, was questioned by the investigation as a witness in the case and was not in a pretrial detention center. The funeral took place in his native village of Genta in the Shamilsky District of Dagestan. His relatives, friends and colleagues were present. It is noted that the trace of the injection is not reflected in the death documents.

On the same day, another partner of Timur Ivanov died

On July 12, it became known that 52-year-old Russian businessman Igor Kotelnikov, who was accused of giving bribes to senior officials of the Ministry of Defense, had died in the capital’s SIZO-4 “Medved”. According to the source, Kotelnikov and Khandayev were supposed to testify against former Deputy Defense Minister Ivanov.

Kotelnikov’s death was linked to the conditions of detention in the punishment cell. According to Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Human Rights Council, the official cause was cardiac arrest. The emergency occurred in the punishment cell of the fifth building on Monday, but information about the incident was received only on Friday, July 12. It is noted that the Federal Penitentiary Service has not officially confirmed the incident.

“The punishment cells in Pre-trial Detention Center No. 4 are the worst. And the practice of placing people there sometimes for strange reasons is bad. I say this from the experience of inspections of Pre-trial Detention Center No. 4,” said the member of the Human Rights Council.

Timur Ivanov was arrested for bribery

The Deputy Minister of Defense is accused of taking a bribe of 1.185 billion rubles. Initially, he was accused of taking a bribe of 1.125 billion rubles.

According to the investigation, Ivanov and other defendants, acting as part of an organized group, received a bribe from the co-founder and representatives of Olimpsiststroy LLC in the form of illegal provision of property services to them from October 24, 2018 to December 31, 2023.

Ivanov was detained at his workplace and arrested in late April. He was charged under Article 290 (“Receiving a bribe on an especially large scale”) of the Russian Criminal Code. He later announced his resignation.