Illustrative photo from open sources
AsBAGNEThas already reported, on Sunday, May 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed appointing Andrei Belousov as the new Minister of Defense, and transferring his predecessor Sergei Shoigu to the post of secretary Security Council instead of Nikolai Patrushev.
Analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that with these personnel changes, Putin continues to mobilize the Russian economy and military-industrial complex to support a protracted war in Ukraine and, possibly, prepare for a future confrontation with NATO.
Press- Kremlin Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Shoigu will now take the post of Security Council Secretary and will be Putin’s deputy in the Russian Military-Industrial Commission.
Earlier, Peskov reported that Putin relieved Patrushev from the post of Secretary of the Council of Security “in connection with his transfer to another job,” but to which one? did not specify.
Army General Valery Gerasimov will remain chief of the Russian General Staff. He is also the commander of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Appointment of a new defense minister
Andrey Belousov has no military experience and is an economist by profession — He served as Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation in 2012-2013. But the lack of military experience is not something anomalous, since Shoigu also had no connection with the army, but still headed the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Several Russian sources believe that the appointment of Belousov to the post of Minister of Defense speaks about Putin's concerns about the level of corruption and misuse of funds in the Russian armed forces, conflicts between the military and the Russian military-industrial complex, as well as the ineffectiveness of the Russian Ministry of Defense as a whole.
One Russian federal official told the opposition publication Important Stories that In his new position, Belousov will have to competently organize work and logistics processes, ensure the necessary production and supplies, and orient the economy toward a “special military operation.” and squeeze the technological maximum out of the defense industry.
ISW concludes that Russian dictator Putin's personnel appointments indicate that the Kremlin continues to prepare for a protracted war in Ukraine.
Prepared by Sergei Daga