Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed by Vladimir Putin

He is replaced by Andreï Beloussov, an economist by training. This reshuffle comes at a time when the Russian army is advancing in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, and is increasing its pressure in the Donbass.

He had held this role for over ten years. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in office since 2012, was dismissed by Vladimir Putin on Sunday, May 12, in a surprise reshuffle, a few days after his inauguration for a fifth term and after more than two years of conflict in Ukraine .

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.

Andrei Beloussov has no military background

“Shoïgu 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.

Sergei Shoigu, 68, has been Minister of Defense in Russia since 2012 and personified the stability of the various governments under Vladimir Putin, just 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. Andreï Beloussov, his replacement, has training as an economist and no military background.

Need for “innovation”

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”, the spokesperson for the Russian presidency further argued.

In recent months, Vladimir Putin has encouraged the country’s defense industry to innovate and produce in greater 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.