A cache of leaked emails has revealed the luxury lifestyle of Russia’s deputy defence minister and his glamorous ex-wife who set in place a ‘pre-emptive’ divorce from her high-ranking husband ‘to dodge sanctions’.
Investigators from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), established in 2011 by Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, acquired 8,000 messages sent over 12 years revealing a life of St Tropez villas, yachts and Rolls-Royces enjoyed by Timur Ivanov, 47, and Svetlana Maniovich, 50.
The foundation is pushing for Maniovich to be banned from travel in the European Union over Ivanov’s role in the conflict in Ukraine, The Times reports.
It said the socialite’s ‘pre-emptive’ divorce from Ivanov last summer allowed her to bypass the EU sanctions that were later put in place for her husband. The emails suggest that there was no actual separation.
The couple got married in 2009, following Maniovich’s divorce from the successful businessman Mikhail Maniovich.
Pictured: Svetlana Maniovich sunbathing. The Anti-Corruption Foundation is pushing for Maniovich to be banned from travel in the European Union over Ivanov’s role in the conflict in Ukraine
Pictured: Svetlana Maniovich paddling in the sea. The Anti-Corruption Foundation. said the socialite’s ‘pre-emptive’ divorce from Ivanov last summer allowed her to bypass the EU sanctions that were later put in place for her husband. Leaked emails suggest that there was no actual separation
Ivanov was appointed deputy defence minister in 2016 after working for a defence contractor. He is responsible for military construction projects, including the rebuilding of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
Maniovich’s family spent €850,000 on villa rentals in St Tropez and €250,000 on yachts between 2013 and 2018, according to her emails.
She also took shopping trips to Geneva and Paris, splashing out €104,000 on a diamond ring and spending €150,000 earrings.
Her birthday party in Istanbul in 2018 amounted to €178,000.
She also bought a Dolce & Gabbana dress for €59,500 and a set of 19th-century furniture for €85,000, bought in Belgium.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and his wife, the former ice skater Tatiana Navka attended her 2021 birthday near Moscow.
Ivanov and Maniovich have also allegedly kept a Rolls-Royce Corniche for their trips to the French Riviera.
The FBK said that Maniovich’s bills were covered by other people and corporations. Olimpsitistroy, a contractor for the defence ministry which is involved in building new apartment blocks in Mariupol, was one of these.
On March 17 last year, as Russia sustained its assault on Mariupol, Maniovich picked up diamonds from a jewellery store in Paris.
Maria Pevchikh, head of investigations for FBK, urged the French authorities to ban Maniovich from visiting France, posting a video of her ‘partying in Courchevel,’ a ski resort in France, three weeks ago.
Pevchikh also announced a demonstration on April 23, close to Maniovich’s flat in Paris ‘demanding to sanction their family, freeze their assets and kick them out of Europe’.
According to the FBK, in 2012, Ivanov bought a manor in the center of Moscow for €6.7 million.
The foundation said he also spent about the same amount on the construction of a luxurious country house on the Rublyovskoye Highway.
It said that in 2018, Ivanov’s wife celebrated her birthday in Istanbul, with the celebration costing her €178,000.
Pictured: Svetlana Maniovich enjoying a drink on holiday. The couple got married in 2009, following Maniovich’s divorce from the successful businessman Mikhail Maniovich
Pictured: Svetlana Maniovich aboard a boat. Maniovich’s family spent €850,000 on villa rentals in St Tropez and €250,000 on yachts between 2013 and 2018, according to her emails
Pictured: Timur Ivanov, 47, and Svetlana Maniovich, 50 on a boat. Ivanov and Maniovich have also allegedly kept a Rolls-Royce Corniche for their trips to the French Riviera
The FBK said in a post on its website in December: ‘The family’s assets are registered to ‘Russian Federation,’ their nannies and chauffeur, as well as contractors of the Ministry of Defense.
‘These contractor companies receive billions in construction contracts from the ministry, and they also paid Maniovich and Ivanov’s bills. The official income of the family is about 25 million rubles a year. There is no way that would allow them to lead such a luxurious lifestyle. All this was bought with money stolen from the Russians.’
It added: ‘Right now, Ivanov’s wife is spending her blood money in Parisian boutiques. Europe imposed sanctions on Ivanov only on October 6, 2022. But a month before that, he and Maniovich had divorced.
‘The divorce was merely a formality, and its only purpose was to allow Ivanov’s family to continue to live and spend money in Europe. This is confirmed by the fact that Svetlana took her husband’s surname shortly before the divorce.
‘Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov makes money on construction in the occupied regions of Ukraine. At the same time he spends millions of euros on vacations, luxury real estate and antiques. His wife uses the corrupt money to live a luxurious lifestyle in Europe. This follows from a new investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation.’
Pictured: Svetlana Maniovich on a boat. Her birthday party in Istanbul in 2018 amounted to €178,000, according to the leaked emails
Svetlana Maniovich swimming in the sea on holiday. According to the FBK, in 2012, Ivanov bought a manor in the center of Moscow for €6.7 million.
Ivanova’s son Mikhail is a student at Oxford University in England and her daughter lives in France.
Maniovich’s husband is among those sanctioned by Britain, the European Union and the United States due to his proximity to Putin, but she and her children are not under the same restrictions.
Ivanov has been in his role since 2016, and before that he served as deputy head of the Moscow region.
Both Mikhail and Ivanova’s daughter Alexandra are keen Instagram users, despite the platform being banned in Russia.
After the invasion of Ukraine, Alexandra wrote: ‘There should not be hostilities in any country in the world.’ She did not directly criticise the Kremlin.
