ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP
In Russia, Vladimir Putin dismissed Sergei Shoigu (here during a military parade on May 9, 2024 in Moscow), the British Defense Minister believes he knows why
INTERNATIONAL – A clear comment following a surprise departure. The emblematic Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, was dismissed by Vladimir Putin this Sunday evening, May 12, during a surprise reshuffle. This strategic choice for Russia comes after more than two years of conflict in Ukraine, and more precisely at the very moment when the Russian army is advancing in the Kharkiv region, a few days after launching a ground assault there.
Sergei Shoigu is replaced by Andreï Beloussov, and becomes secretary of the Security Council. “Sergueï Shoigu 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”specified the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, quoted by Russian agencies.
Seen from abroad, this hasty departure of Sergei Shoigu from a position he had held for twelve years appears less smooth than what the Kremlin claims. On his Twitter account, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps accused Sergei Shoigu of being responsible for “ more than 355,000 victims »dead and injured, “ among his own soldiers” in the war in Ukraine. Replacing him is therefore taking stock of this assessment, believes his now ex-counterpart.
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 following the aborted revolt in June 2023 by fighters from Wagner’s paramilitary group, led by Yevgeni Prigozhin, who caused power to waver.
“Another Putin puppet”
“Moscow needs a defense minister who can… stop the invasion, but all it will get is another Putin puppet”, commented British Defense Minister Grant Shapps. The one who takes over from Serguei Choïhu, Andreï Beloussov, has training as an economist, but 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.
The spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Pesko, 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.
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