Sergei Ivanov, Former Russian Defense Minister, Dies at 73

Death of Sergei Ivanov

According to Главком: Sergei Ivanov, who once served as Russia’s defense minister, has passed away at the age of 73. Most recently, he held the role of special presidential envoy for environmental protection, ecology, and transport, a position he vacated on February 4. He had been in that post since 2016.

Career and Achievements

Over the course of his professional life, Ivanov held several high-ranking positions within Russia’s intelligence agencies and government. Born on January 31, 1953, in Leningrad, he began his career with the KGB in 1975. From 1976 to 1977, he worked in the KGB directorate for Leningrad and the Leningrad region, serving in the same unit as Vladimir Putin. Between 1991 and 1998, Ivanov was part of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and in 1998, he became deputy director of the Federal Security Service, where he headed the department for analysis, forecasting, and strategic planning under Putin’s leadership.

Sergei Ivanov was appointed Russia’s defense minister in March 2001 and held that office until February 2007, after which he became deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Putin. In 2026, Vladimir Putin removed him from the Russian Security Council. It is also known that in 2014, Ivanov’s son, Alexander Ivanov, who was deputy chairman of Vnesheconombank, died in the United Arab Emirates.

For decades, Sergei Ivanov was a central figure in Russian politics and security, with a career that mirrors the evolution of the country’s state institutions from the early 1990s to the present day. His deep ties to Vladimir Putin and his influential role in national defense and security make his death a significant event that could reshape parts of Russia’s political landscape. Given his long tenure in power, his passing may trigger shifts in the Kremlin’s personnel strategy.