House of the former wife of Russian deputy defence minister picketed in Paris

The ex-wife of Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov continues to live a luxurious life in France despite sanctions against her ex-husband.

On Sunday, 23 April, in Paris, activists held a demonstration in front of the house where Svetlana Ivanova, the ex-wife of Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, is believed to live. This was reported by DW.

Demanding sanctions against the ex-wife of the Russian politician, several dozen demonstrators gathered in front of her house in the seventh arrondissement of the French capital, which is one of the most expensive areas of the city.

According to AFP, the protesters held placards with inscriptions such as “Robbing in Russia. Kills in Ukraine. Has a wife in France”.

The activists criticised Ivanova for helping her ex-husband circumvent EU sanctions. Therefore, according to activists, she should be banned from the EU and her assets in Europe should be frozen. “These are the relatives of a war criminal,” Maria Pevchikh, an activist, told AFP at the rally, “They must be punished and answer for what they are doing.

In December 2022, the media published an investigation claiming that Ivanov’s family had been living a life of luxury in Europe for years, holidaying in the French resort of Saint-Tropez, owning Rolls-Royce cars and wearing expensive jewellery.

According to the investigation, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ivanov, among other things, controlled and profited from construction projects in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Instead, Ivanov’s wife moved to France after the war began to continue living in luxury.

The Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation and his wife

According to the investigation, Ivanov divorced his wife in June 2022 to avoid Western sanctions. However, according to data, financial assistance from Ivanov is still his ex-wife’s only source of income.

According to activists, they have been trying for several weeks to get the French authorities to take action against the Russian official’s ex-wife. However, the French authorities have not yet responded. “Now is not the time to ignore this,” Pevšić criticises, “We are in the middle of a war.

As reported, Tatiana Naryshkina, the wife of the head of the foreign intelligence service of Russia, Sergei Naryshkin, is travelling freely in “hostile” NATO countries despite the sanctions. Naryshkina was spotted and photographed in Paris.