VMore than two years after the invasion of Ukraine, President Radimir Putin has replaced his long-serving defense minister with a trained economist in an unexpected change of policy that signals a focus on growing Russia’s war economy. Replaced with
President Putin has recommended his former economic aide and First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, 65, to replace Sergei Shoigu, 68, who was given a soft demotion to head the Security Council. Nikolai Patrushev, a longtime Putin ally who held the position, will be fired and taken to an unspecified other position.
Most of Shoigu’s predecessors under Putin did not have military backgrounds, but this is the first time Putin has chosen a career economist as defense minister.
The reshuffle comes just days after Russia’s president was sworn in for a fifth term, extending his quarter-century in office, and is seen as an expression of Putin’s dissatisfaction with the handling of the war by security officials. .
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This is also President Putin’s biggest political change since 2020. Then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was sidelined and replaced by technocrat Mikhail Mishustin, who remains in office along with Foreign Minister and veteran diplomat Sergei Lavrov.
Russia has recently had limited local gains on the front lines, with Ukraine’s military short on weapons and personnel and in dire need of expanded air defense systems.
The Kremlin controls almost 20% of Ukraine’s territory, but after a call-up of 300,000 Russians in September 2022 caused panic and an exodus, President Putin is set to order another unpopular mobilization. Alert, Kremlin forces are proceeding cautiously.
Sergei Markov, a political consultant close to the Kremlin, said Belosov’s appointment was aimed at giving Putin more control over the military situation as the war in Ukraine drags on. The need for a new face to represent the Russian military has also become urgent following the corruption scandal involving former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, a key aide to Shoigu.
“Mr. Belousov is personally loyal to President Putin and will solve everything,” Markov said by phone. “I have too many personal interests.”
There was still a whiff of unfinished business last year after a conflict with Wagner founder Evgeny Prigozhin led to a failed revolt. There was speculation at the time that Shoigu might step down, but that decision was postponed.
In the end, Putin took his time making changes until Prigozhin’s death under mysterious circumstances in late summer and his own re-election this month. A Kremlin insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the changes, said Putin trusts Belousov and views him as honest and not corrupt.
“This restructuring is about strengthening the role of the military-industrial complex as the main institution of the economy,” said Evgeny Suvorov, chief Russian economist at Centrocredit Bank.
Mr. Belosov graduated from Moscow State University in 1981 with a degree in cybernetic economics and later received a Ph.D. Initially, he pursued a career at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
His first official engagement with Putin was as head of the Economic and Fiscal Department in 2008, when Putin temporarily resigned as president, and later swapped jobs with Medvedev with a view to returning to the top job. Mr. Belousov then briefly served as Minister of Economy and then as President Putin’s economic aide. He helped transform Russia into a war economy.
He was known for his tough stance on corporations and business, and was a driving force behind the government’s plans to increase taxes on metals and mining, including after the start of the war.
Rather, Shoigu took a different trajectory after becoming a target of Prigozhin in the June 2023 uprising. His ouster comes after he was once a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, accompanied him on highly publicized hunting and horseback riding trips in Siberia, and headed Russia’s Emergencies Ministry for nearly two decades.
His move to the Security Council cripples the body, which was already focused on presidential decision-making on national security strategy and is being used as a “repository for former President Vladimir Putin’s key figures.” Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of a political consulting firm, says this shows that. R. Politic said on Telegram.
Medvedev is the vice-chairman of the Security Council, but his role has been significantly reduced over the years. President Putin amended the constitution in 2020 to give him two more mandates. This means Putin will be able to rule until 2036, when he will be 83 years old.
