The head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, removed Sergei Shoigu from the position of Minister of Defense of Russia and proposed a new candidate for this position.
As noted on the official page of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation in Telegram, Putin proposed to appoint Andrii Belousov as the new Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Analysts of the Institute for the Study of War believe that the ruler of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, is reshuffling the personnel of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in order to strengthen preparations for a protracted war with Ukraine and, possibly, to prepare for a future confrontation with NATO.
According to ISW, in particular, the head of the Kremlin replaced Defense Minister Serhii Shoigu with Andrii Bilousov. He transferred the dismissed official to the position of Secretary of the Security Council instead of Mykola Patrushev.
According to experts, these high-level reshuffles after the presidential elections indicate that Putin is taking significant steps in the direction of mobilizing the economy and defense-industrial base of the Russian Federation.
ISW explained that Bilousov’s almost ten-year tenure as Minister of Economy in the Russian federal government and his recent involvement in the management of various domestic innovation projects in the field of military defense and drones have prepared him well to lead the apparatus of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which is in a difficult position.
“Bilousov has a solid reputation as an effective technocrat, and insider sources say he also has a positive relationship with Putin.”, – added the Institute for the Study of War.
According to the report, Shoigu Patrushev’s replacement as Security Council secretary is also in line with Putin’s overall policy of quietly ousting senior security officials by giving them peripheral roles in the Russian security sphere rather than simply firing them.
In the past, he has similarly sidelined his failed generals, assigning them to peripheral positions related to security and defense, outside of direct reporting, sometimes allowing them to “atone for their guilt and return to Putin’s service.”
In addition to the dismissal of Patrushev, the ruler of the Russian Federation largely reassigned the heads of the main security services, which indicates that he retains the core of loyal security forces.
