The inauguration is over, time for change. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in office since 2012, is paying the price. He was fired on Sunday evening by Vladimir Putin in a major surprise reshuffle, a few days after the president’s inauguration for a fifth term in the Kremlin.
Sergei Shoigu is replaced by Andreï Beloussov and becomes secretary of the Security Council, a position previously held by Nikolaï Patrushev, who is dismissed from his position, 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, and is increasing its pressure in the Donbass, around Chassiv Iar.
“Shoigu will continue to work in this area, which he knows well, which he knows very well from the inside, with his colleagues and his partners in his former workplace,” the presidential spokesperson quickly justified. Russian, Dmitri Peskov, cited by Russian agencies.
A pillar of government
Sergei Shoigu was not just any minister. In office since 2012, he embodied the stability of the various governments under Putin, just like the head of diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov.
His replacement, Andreï Beloussov, has no military background. An economist by training, he was first vice-president of the last government since 2020 and one of Vladimir Putin’s main economic advisors in recent years.
The future role of Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council since 2008 and before that head of the FSB during Vladimir Putin’s first two terms in the Kremlin, will be communicated to him “in the coming days”, Dmitri Peskov also specified.