The reshuffle is announced in a post on Telegram from the Federation Council.
Belousov is now expected to be approved by Russian parliamentarians and leave his current post as deputy prime minister.
The war in Ukraine
Bombed the house in Belgorod – here are the details that point to Russia
Support for Ukraine
The change comes just weeks after one of Russia’s many deputy defense ministers, Timur Ivanov, was arrested on suspicion of bribery.
In the video above, foreign affairs reporter Bert Sundström talks about what the change of defense minister could mean for Russia – and the war in Ukraine.