The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, proposed yesterday a change of weight both for the Government of the country and for the current war campaign against Ukraine, which has already lasted more than two years. According to the information coming from the Council of the Federation (Senate), the head of the Kremlin wants to remove from his functions the current Minister of Defense, Serguei Xoigu, and appoint in his place the Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Beloussov.
Xoigu, an old ally of Putin at the head of Defense since 2012, does not, however, abandon positions of responsibility within Russia’s organizational chart of power. Putin has reserved for him the secretariat of the powerful Security Council, replacing another veteran Putin confidant, Nikolai Patruyshev. The latter will be given another task, the Kremlin said, but it has not yet announced what it will be.
Unlike Xoigu, an army general, Beloussov comes from the civilian world. The man who will now be in charge of the military campaign against Ukraine is 65 years old. During the years 2012 and 2013 he directed the Ministry of Economic Development, and from 2013 to 2020 he was adviser to the president for economic affairs.
Since that same year he has been the main deputy prime minister of the current head of government, Mikhaïl Mixustin. From that position he oversaw, in particular, economic development policy, financial, credit and monetary policy, infrastructure projects and state regulation of financial markets.
Putin has taken advantage of his recent inauguration, on May 7, to carry out profound changes in the Executive of the Federation. According to Russian law, when a president takes office, the government must resign and the president must appoint a new executive. Putin’s proposals reached the Upper House of the Russian Parliament on Sunday.
Putin has decided to keep Mixustin. But he wants to change some ministers and deputy ministers. Such as Denís Manturov, who will leave Indústria and be replaced by Anton Alikhànov. Manturov will be the new deputy prime minister. Or Dmitri Patruyshev, who will leave Agriculture in the hands of Oksana Lut.
The head of Foreign Affairs, veteran Sergei Lavrov, will remain in his post, the Kremlin has said. Formally, the senators must approve the proposals of the President of Russia. They will debate them in their committees on Monday, May 13, and in the hemicycle of the Federation Council on the 14th.
Born in 1955, Xoigú, a career general, has been a direct collaborator of Putin since the nineties, during which his direct management style gave him great visibility.
When the founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, rose up against the Russian government on June 23, 2023, he directly accused Shoigu and Valery Guerassimov, chief of the army’s general staff, of being responsible for the mediocre performance of the army in Ukraine. Gerassimov’s public disappearance led to speculation that he had been the victim of a botched coup. However, he returned and Putin confirmed him in the post yesterday.
