Over the weekend, President Vladimir Putin replaced Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu — the longest serving member of his Cabinet at 11 1/2 years — in a rare Kremlin shake-up that came even as a Russian offensive in Ukraine is making gains.
Russia n Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is driven along Red Square in an Aurus car during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia , Thursday, May 9, 2024, marking the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II. Russia n Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, center, gestures as he waits to attend a ceremony inaugurating Vladimir Putin as President of Russia at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
Even though he has held the defense minister’s job for 11 1/2 years, Shoigu’s fortunes seemed to take a further downturn last month. His deputy, Timur Ivanov, was arrested on bribery charges and hauled into court still in his military uniform. Ivanov had been Shoigu’s top associate since before becoming defense minister, and Kremlin watchers saw it as a serious blow.
Belousov graduated from the economics faculty of Moscow State University and held a succession of senior government jobs before serving as Putin’s economic adviser in 2013-20. Since then, he was a deputy prime minister in charge of economic strategies, advocating stronger state controls. But Belousov’s predecessors all got the job in peacetime while he takes over in what many military analysts see as a decisive moment in the war — when Russia is trying to take advantage of a slowdown in the West sending weapons to Ukraine.The Kremlin sought to ease the widespread bewilderment over choosing Belousov as defense minister by emphasizing that Gerasimov — the chief of the General Staff — actually directs the fighting in Ukraine.
Belousov is widely expected to purge the ministry of Shoigu’s top associates -– a move that would hardly encourage stability at a key moment in the conflict.
Vladimir Putin Ukraine Rostov-On-Don Sergei Shoigu General News Russia Ukraine War Military And Defense War And Unrest A World News Russia Politics
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