Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his emblematic Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday evening, in office since 2012, in a surprise reshuffle, a few days after his inauguration for a fifth term and after more than two years of conflict in Ukraine.
3 mins
Sergei Shoigu is replaced by Andreï Belooussov, an economist by training, and becomes secretary of the Security Council, a position held until then by Nikolaï Patrushev, who is dismissed from his functions, according to a decree published by the Kremlin.
This reshuffle comes at a time when the Russian army is advancing in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, a few days after launching a ground assault there, and is increasing its pressure in the Donbass, around Chassiv Iar. “ Choïgu will continue to work in this field, which he knows well, which he knows very well from the inside, with his colleagues and his partners at his former workplace », Quickly clarified the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, quoted by Russian agencies.
Maintained during two years of war, despite setbacks
Sergei Shoigu, 68, was Minister of Defense in Russia since 2012 and embodied the stability of the different governments under Vladimir Poutinejust like the head of diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, who retains his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Despite a series of humiliating setbacks for Russian troops in Ukraine in 2022, after the initial offensive on February 24 of that year, Vladimir Putin maintained his confidence in Sergei Shoigu, despite criticism from part of the war wing of the army. This was particularly the case at the end of the aborted revolt in June 2023 fighters from Wagner’s paramilitary group, led by Yevgeni Prigojine, who had shaken the power.
Andreï Beloussov, his replacement, has training as an economist and no military background. At 65, he was first vice-president of the last government since 2020 and one of Vladimir Putin’s main economic advisors in recent years, having even briefly served as Minister of Economic Development between May 2012 and June 2013.
Need for innovations in the military field, according to the Kremlin
Dmitri Peskov justified Vladimir Putin’s decision by a need coming directly from the front, after more than two years of fighting in Ukraine and without a clear outcome to the conflict. “ Today, on the battlefield, the one who wins is the one who is most open to innovation “, he said. According to Vladimir Putin, “ the Ministry of Defense must be absolutely open to innovation, to the introduction of all advanced ideas, to the creation of conditions for economic competitiveness », further argued Dmitri Peskov. In recent months, the Russian president has encouraged the country’s defense industry to innovate and produce in larger quantities to continue the offensive in Ukraine, which is costly in terms of equipment and men.
Because if Ukraine relies on equipment donated by the Europeans and the United States, Russia can only count militarily on its Iranian and North Korean partners mainly, without forgetting China, whose demand largely allows part of keeping the Russian economy afloat.
The Kremlin spokesperson also indicated that Valéri Guerassimov, chief of staff, would keep his mission as commander on the ground, without Andreï Beloussov encroaching on his functions.
Read alsoUkraine: thousands of civilians evacuated in the Kharkiv region, a refinery on fire in Russia