A TOP Russian military official arrested on suspicion of corruption was placed in pre-trial detention today after appearing before a Moscow court.

Timur Ivanov, one of 12 deputy defence ministers, was arrested  on Tuesday evening, Russia’s Investigative Committee said, specifying that he is suspected of taking an especially large bribe — a criminal offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Investigators said today that Mr Ivanov had conspired with third parties to receive the bribe in the form of unspecified property services “during contracting and subcontracting work for the needs of the Ministry of Defence.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Russian media claims that the corruption case against Mr Ivanov was intended to obscure additional allegations of high treason.

He was reportedly in charge of construction projects in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

In Ukraine, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials thanked the US Senate for approving fresh military aid worth $61 billion on Tuesday night — part of a wider package of assistance for US allies including Israel and Taiwan.

However, the new supplies are not expected to have an immediate impact on the battlefield, where Ukrainian troops face acute shortages of shells and air defence systems as they try to block further Russian advances.