Russia seeks to seize large assets from former deputy defense minister accused of corruption, Kommersant reports

Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has asked a Moscow district court to seize assets worth 5.5 billion rubles from former Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov and his close relatives, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.

The press service of Moscow courts had initially reported that prosecutors were seeking to transfer assets worth seven billion rubles to the state, but the claim accepted by the Nikulinsky District Court puts the defendants’ assets at 5.5 billion rubles.

Prosecutors say the assets — real estate, land plots, and properties in the Moscow region and North Ossetia — were acquired through corruption. Three billion rubles held in accounts belonging to Sandora, a Defense Ministry contractor, make up a large portion of what prosecutors are seeking to seize.

Sandora figures in the criminal case against Tsalikov, who is accused of organizing a criminal enterprise. Investigators say the enterprise ran schemes to supply the military with various goods — including personal hygiene kits for soldiers — purchased at prices inflated by 30 to 40 percent through affiliated companies. A source told Kommersant that Tsalikov denies any connection to the firm and has not admitted guilt.

The Prosecutor General’s Office lawsuit says that after becoming deputy defense minister in November 2012, Tsalikov “decided to use his authority against the interests of the state, for the purpose of personal enrichment of himself and his relatives.” Among other things, companies belonging to Tsalikov’s sons and daughters acquired valuable real estate: commercial space in the Sugar Factory business center on Zemlyanoy Val in Moscow, land in the city of Domodedovo, and premises in the Khamovniki and Meshchansky districts of Moscow. They earned substantial profits by leasing the properties. The nearly 200 million rubles held in those companies’ accounts “were under the actual ownership and control of Ruslan Tsalikov himself,” the lawsuit says.

The Prosecutor General’s Office is asking the court to transfer to the state, among other things, money held in Tsalikov’s children’s accounts and cash found in their possession, as well as eight high-value properties registered in the former deputy minister’s own name in the Razdory-2 cottage community outside Moscow: two land plots, a mansion with a guardhouse, a summer kitchen, two garages, and a gazebo — along with a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Among the defendants alongside Tsalikov’s relatives is Vlada Markovskaya, the mother of Rossiyanka Markovskaya, who previously served as press secretary to Sergei Shoigu. According to the lawsuit, Tsalikov registered in Vlada Markovskaya’s name an apartment in the premium-class Reka residential complex worth nearly 70 million rubles, along with two parking spaces.

Ruslan Tsalikov is a member of Sergei Shoigu’s inner circle. He served as Shoigu’s deputy at the Emergency Situations Ministry, in the Moscow region governor’s office, and at the Defense Ministry. In May 2024, Vladimir Putin dismissed Shoigu as head of Russia’s Defense Ministry. A month later, Tsalikov was removed from his post as deputy defense minister.

On March 5, 2026, the Russian federal investigating authority announced that a criminal case had been opened against Tsalikov. He was charged with organizing a criminal enterprise, laundering stolen budget funds, bribery, and embezzlement. Tsalikov was placed under house arrest.

The Navalny-founded anti-corruption organization in 2022 published an investigation into Tsalikov, reporting that the deputy minister owned property worth 4.3 billion rubles.