news.sky.com/story/russian-defence-minister-and-long-time-putin-ally-sergei-shoigu-to-be-replaced-13133572
Russian defence minister and long-time Putin ally Sergei Shoigu to be replaced
Russia/UkraineHoly shit, in that case the headline should be about Patrushev being replaced, which is much bigger news. Wonder what's going on, his power rivals Putin's.
Russia needs to secure their land. The successful retaliations by Ukraine is a national embarrassment 🤣
Additionally, some regions are starting to rebuild and need to be repressed.
Finally, there's going to be more protests in Russia's extremities, where the central power is weaker.
If only…
It's just a matter of time. Russia is not Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
People support Putin, because he raised a big part of the country out of poverty. If it slides down one generation later (what is currently happening), he will loose many supporters.
Additionally, assuming that Russia conquers Ukraine, they will pay the price for decades. It's easy to spot Tchechens in Moscow. It's much harder to spot Ukrainians.
I have actually lived in the deep south of Russia. But it was still Soviet Union at that time… a small city called Nevy’Nommysk roughly between Krasnodar and Grozny.
It wasn’t even Vladivostok but the feeling or remoteness was real. I wonder what it is like now. But the lack of education makes that kind of population an easy target for nationalism
Agreed. Cold, hungry, and no opportunity in sight and no one on your side. Even educated people in that position will, given time, accept what they normally would overtly reject.
It is sad. Through neglect the Russian System ensures stability- no one else will ever help the people, so the government can string them along indefinitely, and when it throws them breadcrumbs it forces them to gush with adulation. It's insane to permanently treat fellow humans like that and attempt to refer to it as "governance". It is more akin to human husbandry.
Yeah. Some reports talk about demotion for Shoigu. Nope it's Patrushev who got demoted / put to retirement. I would say though the title isn't as cool as minister, secretary of security council is lateral move, if not even promotion for Shoigu. It is one of the most trusted post in Russia.
So yeah, what the heck did Patrushev do to lose that job. I think people thought Patrushev would die in office in that post or something. Not that he needs to worry windows either. These aren't the caliber of people who fall from windows. Those people are way down lover on totem pole. All this people mentioned are close personal associates, if not even trusted friends of Putin. They won't fall down a window as long as Putin is in power. At most they are retired to house arrest at a really nice dacha. If Putin loses power, then they might fall down the window in the post Putin power struggle.
Replacing Patrushev? Wheres he going then? He was supposed to be no2 in country
Intelligence chief Nikolai Patrushev was dismissed from that position despite being widely seen as one of Putin’s closest, and most hawkish, confidants.
Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said he is “due to a transfer to another job” but refused to elaborate on Patrushev’s fate, saying only that details would be announced in the coming days.
His son, Dmitry Patrushev, has been promoted to deputy prime minister from agriculture minister as part of the same reshuffle.
This shuffle was probably ignited by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov’s arrest & dismissal 2 weeks ago on corruption charges. I think Patrushev is far too loyal to be discarded by Putin unless there’s something we don’t know yet.
But Ivanov was one of Shoigu’s closest allies. Their ties go back more than a decade, first working together in the Moscow regional government before Ivanov followed his boss into the defense ministry. Ivanov even earned the nickname “Shoigu’s wallet” from his access to astronomic funds overseeing military construction. Shoigu’s optics as Defense Minister were already damaged and this Ivanov case was likely the breaking point.
Furthermore on Ivanov’s arrest, Russian investigative journalist Andrey Soldatov said:
This aligns with a “tactic” used by the FSB, Russia’s security service, where it arrests a high-ranking official in order to crack down on rule-breaking in the ministry, agency or organization as a whole.
“Now that deputy will be extensively interrogated, not only about himself, and is supposed to provide incriminating evidence… on big shots of the organization,” Soldatov said.
Shoigu’s ousting was inevitable. Especially considering Ivanov is accused of large-scale bribe-taking valued at more than 1 billion rubles ($12.2 million), which investigators say centers around a “criminal conspiracy” to accept funds “in the form of property services during the course of contracting and subcontracting work for the Defense Ministry.”
Anyone else find it hilarious that someone was fired from the Russian government for corruption?
The Putin system is a giant corruption pact. Honest people are viewed with suspicion, because they might ruin things for everyone else, so they never get close to the top. That way, if anyone falls from grace, there is always something that they can be charged with.
tbf, most modern totalitarian governments work that way.
Past ones worked the same way, except now it is much more effective with how easy it is to communicate information to the masses.
Indeed, look at Nazi Germany, a total corrupt bureaucratic establishment where they competed to get Hitler's attention.
Are you implying that lack of corruption evidence would actually slow down the process of removing an official nonviolently?
All that Russian courts need is name of the guilty one and a nod from the boss. The rest is trivial.
The system has some leftover semblance of legality, although it has become more transparently totalitarian over recent years. This isn’t just about the courts, though: this is mostly for public consumption. That way, the benevolent tsar is really cleaning house of all these corrupt boyars!
For Katarina and Kislev!
There was an r/AskReddit post about strange things people encountered during work or something like that. Someone who set up cable TV said they once had to do a repair at a house that was probably a Russian hideout or listening station. They refused to let them in to do the work unless they snorted a line of cocaine in front of them. OOP refused to do so, so they settled for holding a bag of coke while probably photographed from several angles.
Yeah ok. lol. I'll take things that didn't happen, Alex. Like someone is going to let the latter happen before doing the former, or just not go in the house.
Yeah that's pretty sus. I did a job at a place that seems incredibly likely to have been connected to the russian mob a while back. Other than wanting to keep me out of some of the spaces in the unit they really just wanted me to get my job done and GTFO. The head security type dude was really... intense but once he realized I didn't give a fuck what they were doing there and just wanted to do my job he was fine.
Kept outta my hair and didn't ask that many questions which was nice.
And also, that part about declining an offer of free cocaine… I have never seen that happen in person before…
You don’t think Russian intelligence might have their own IT team?
when someone gets in trouble for corruption, it simply means the higher ups don't like them anymore.
everyone is corrupt, and the corruption charges can be brought to anyone and that's the excuse used to get rid of anyone.
It works like this in a corporation as well. When you are highly positioned and well liked by the those at the very top you can do almost anything you want. If you lose favor you better cross your I’s and dot your tees.
This is what they did to all the guys post-stalin. We all know each other's crimes, it's about when the person is no longer useful they are brought in on things most likely to be ordered from the boss and told to answer for their odious use of their official status.
In Russia being fired "for corruption" means you pissed someone off. Everyone is corrupt, and if someone miraculously isn't, they're blocked from positions of power.
No matter how corrupt a place is there's always a line that can be crossed as too much. Also he might have just pissed the wrong people off and they're deciding to no longer ignore the corruption from him they'd been previously ignoring.
Failed to pass along enough of the money.
Possibly, it's doubtful we will know the true causes, but there are always plenty of reasons nations fabricate charges of all kinds.
That's kind of how I would think it would work. When corruption is rife, everyone is is ripe for plucking at any time someone decides it's time for you to go. Since everyone is corrupt, everyone has to wonder if they're next. It seems like a weird way to keep everyone in line, but I can see how it could work, since everyone knows they are gulty as well. I wonder how much the ass-kissing and boot-licking intesifies during a shake-up like this.
It sounds funny but that's why you have to be corrupt to join the upper ranks in the first place: So they have dirt on your to keep you under control / get rid of you when the time comes.
"I'm shocked, shocked, to find that corruption is going on in here."
It's a tactic in authoritarian regimes.
Everyone is corrupt, that's how you get into the club.
So when you want to get rid of someone, you suddenly discover their "shocking" corruption scandal.
It's not that they were ousted because they were corrupt, their corruption was "discovered" because someone wanted them ousted.
it's how they keep you under control.
just like in the Roman Republic everybody is corrupt, and so if you need to remove anybody who you don't like you just expose their corruption and don't consider the whole hypocrisy of the matter.
I honestly think this sort of thing goes on everywhere albeit with a, different nuance in other places. Every politician has received some kind of "favor" along the way. They all have this sword of Damocles hanging over them. When someone "has to go" for whatever reason the official line becomes like Claude Rains in Casablanca - they're shocked, shocked that money or goods changed hands. Not at all trying to say it happens on the same scale everywhere but it does happen.
I was going to say similar about the UK parliamentary system, although obviously to a much lesser extent than Russia. The party Whips have their files on everyone - refuse to play ball and vote with the "team" and the Whips swing into action and essentially blackmail you into voting the right way.
Interesting reply. Thanks for that.
This would be a perfect opportunity to blame the whole war on Shoigu and withdraw from Ukraine. Then Shoigu can do the honorable thing.
Window.
He was given a window of opportunity to find a new position
"the pavement was his enemy"
He was a man of complicated fate and normal levels of gravity.
Invest in Windows stocks, bout to see an increase in purchased windows over the coming year.
Don’t want to invest in Russian companies sorry
With trump windows soon come to US.
In US, windows come to you.
In Russia, you go to windows.
With Trump those are still Russian companies.
Buying $MSFT first thing at open tomorrow !
Gravity is the one law that Russia cannot break.
Fuck, this is the first time I actually chuckled at the tired window joke. Chefs kiss timing.
Believe it or not, window.
All roads lead to Moscow window.
To the Windowwwwwwww!
TO THE WINDOW!!
Floor.
At the moment, nobody knows. Peskov said he’s being appointed to a new job which will be revealed in a couple of days.
Patrushev is the more significant piece. He is probably no.2 behind Putin in real power. Shoigu is relatively powerless
He should try a mutiny to increase his power
He can't be the next leader of Russia though, because the next leader needs to be hairy.
He was supposed to be no2 in country
"Who does number 2 work for?"
Yeah, you show that turd who’s boss!
Try as many courtesy flushes as you want, this turd ain't going down.
He works for Number One- who then work for me- captain Jean Luc Picard.
Unclear but supposedly a new position that won't be a demotion. Maybe PM? Or maybe something they're creating specifically for him.
Same thing happened in dune.
Probably retiring, like Putin should. Patrushev is the same age and has been one of Putin's top spies during Putin's entire time in power. They're both old. They basically rose through the ranks together. I expect that Putin just wants to outlast him and is clinging to power because he loves it too much. Unless maybe this is Putin signalling his own abdication.
Patrushev is going out for some tea.
Maybe no2 had loftier ambitions, or for a moment had a facial expression that resembled as much?
So basically the headline should be "Russian defence minister and long-time Putin ally Sergei Shoigu to be promoted"
Not much click could be baited
That’s what he was told and what Russia is saying but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a smoke screen to keep Sergei from running to the border
Rather than competence, it's more about loyalty. Putin thinks he's the least likely to make a move against him.
I bet their council chamber is at the top floor too.
putin is also a guy that never crossed or betrayed anyone /s
the dude is like stalin, he killed and delete people from history that were in pictures with him. they are mentally ill small people at the end of the day.
While you're not wrong, it's definitely weird to replace your defense minister at the beginning of a new massive offensive in the kharkiv region.
You could make him prime minister if you know he will be defenestrated before he gets there. Might want to see him hold the position for a bit before counting chickens.
Imagine if prigozhin suddenly returned
Prigozhin felt like that one character in game of thrones that appears in like the second or third season, becomes the super important new Big Bad, and then gets offed in the season finale, only to be completely forgotten the next year.
No one would believe he would be dumb enough to plot a coup, get really close to the capital and... just give up. Terrible writing...
That is pretty common for how coups go. The Wagner forces were never going to fight a civil war alone. You have a small group of loyalists that strike at a centralized power, and you collect support during the attack. Try to gather too much support before the attack, and you are inevitably discovered and countered.
So Prigozhin took his Wagner loyalists to strike at Putin, expecting to get the Russian army officers to defect and support him. When he didn't get enough defections fast enough, he lost and had to cut a deal. That was his only option left.
Sometimes, coup plotters can be reconciled to the regime or survive to have further chances of gaining power. Prigozhin was forced to take that gamble that he could, too.
But Wagner wasn't meant to be a "small group of loyalists." It was a 50,000+ group of mercenaries.
There were just a few thousand guys he took to Moscow
It looks more like he was loyal to putin but wanted convince putin that he should be the one leading the Russian army not Shoigu by showing how pathetic Shoigu's army is. That didn't bring the effect he was hoping for.
Also see the Sopranos, Tony's old buddy that just got out of prison is kind of a hothead/fuck up but they are great friends.
Tony Blondano his cousin
That animal, I can't even say his name.
Whatever happened there
Putin never had the makings of a varsity athlete
WHATEVER HAPPENED THERE??!!!
Avengers: Prigizhin Dynasty
Did he also assault his girlfriend and send/ released really weird texts?
Prigo was Doran Martell all along
Somehow, Pringles returned.
The blyat side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
Once you pop, you can't stop
That’s the problem though… Priggy stopped.
AND popped
By the time you get to the fiddly bits at the bottom of the can, means there's nothing left. 🥹
He can fly now?!?!
He can't fly now!!!
Now with extra.... Smokey BBQ flavour
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Prigozhin the Wise?
GOOD GOD IT'S PRIGOZHIN WITH A STEEL CHAIR
RKA OUTTA FUCKEN NOWHERE!!!
SHOIGUUUU! WHERE GERASIMOV!?
It’s just him in one of his disguises he used while in Africa
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/14u0dcm/prigozhins_selfies_in_disguise_found_during_the/
What a plot twist to have Pringles back
Legend has it he’s still looking for the ammo.
SHOIGUUUUUUU!!!!
GERASIMOV!!!??
WHERE IS THE FUCKING AMMO?!?!1!!
Funny. A buddy and I were discussing Prigozhin tonight and thought it downright comical that Prigozhin was the only one, out of 8 billion on the planet, who didn't see his assassination coming—and he thought all was cool with Vlad.
Weekend at Yevgeny’s
learned from the best Palpatine
Guess who’s back from the dead, Motherfuckers
Something else to watch: (from the article)
Former MI6 intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, who ran the Russia desk between 2006 and 2009, told Sky News he takes Mr Peskov's words "with a pinch of salt".
"It was clear to most of us Russia-watchers for some time that Patrushev [now former Secretary of the Security Council] was lining up his son, Dmitry, who's the current agriculture minister, to be Putin's successor as president," he said.
That might actually make sense.
Yup, continues the bald-hairy lineage.
Putin and Patrushev have basically mirrored each other's career in lockstep with each other straight from Yeltsin's good ol' boys club, pulling the strings of spy craft together during Putin's entire reign. Putin doesn't have any heirs of his own or in his family afaik. This is probably Putin handing the keys to the kingdom to his co-ruler's family and putting in place his legacy of confidants to create a dynasty.
Damn, it was better for Ukraine to have that incompetent moron in charge.
There's a reason Prigozhin wanted him gone.
What's the old saying, western armies rotate troops, Russia rotates generals
Kinda difficult to rotate corpses back into the fight...
To be fair, this method generally keeps you with relatively fresh troops....
With no experience
They make up for the lack of experience with extra evil.
its funny though, because usa regularly rotates command around
I would argue he's a genius. Not a military genius obviously, but a political one. Sergei rose from a poor family. By the time he was 36 he was Minister of Emergency Situations (the Russian version of FEMA.) Then he worked his way into being Minister of Defense. He stayed in that position for 12 years, surviving the shit show of the initial invasion of Ukraine. The guy is a survivor. He took down Prigozhin (I think it's likely he was also responsible for the plane shootdown, but regardless of that Prigozhin rebelled because his forces were being merged under Shoigu). The thing is that his palace intrigue skills don't translate into military skills.
A lot of these dumbasses were poor growing up, they survive politically because of what they aren't. Prigozhin was a petty criminal and really showed the capabilities that made him Putins right hand man for a while, during his coup. They are all useless.
Useless to everybody else? Absolutely. Useful to themselves? Shoigu's wealth is unknown, but virtually all estimates go well above $100 million USD.
Regarding his political status, I should be clear he didn't luck into it. While Yeltsin was in power Segei was a leader of the Unity political party. He was a losing vote against merging the party with Putin's party (United Russia). Despite that vote he was able to turn it around and tie himself to Putin.
Kind of weird that two political parties called Unite and Unity had trouble unifying.
Progozhin was a hotdog vender who made his own fortune and made his way into Putin’s inner circle as his personal cook. Somehow he is more competent in the war than Russian generals who had graduated from military academy.
Gerasimov is still in charge of military operations, for now. Shoigu has actually managed to improve procurement and defense production in spite of whatever corruption was happening.
Has Gerasimov been seen in public recently?
Not that I know of but Gerasimov has never been a fan of making public appearances.
Is there any confirmation of Gerasimov doing anything in the past four months?
Defense production flattened out already and I doubt that a new boss will fix that.
There’s also a reason why Shoigu lasted as long as he did.
Finally, We were getting sick of his face.
He got a new job as head of the security council. You’re still going to see his face unfortunately.
Mein Fuhrer… he’s replacing Patrushev as head of the Russian National Security Council.
Patrushev couldn't mobilize enough men. He wasn't able to carry out his assault.
Forgot to add. Sergei should stay far from windows for the rest of his life.
Whether he does or not, it'll be for the rest of his life.
It won't be long. I heard he has stage 4 Defenestratus.
Won't be applying for any Microsoft developer jobs then
Gerasimov is the one I want to see go. Dude looks like a Great Value brand Ray Liotta.
Putin acknowledges receipt of half Prigozghin's message posthumously.
So who is this Andrei Belousov bloke?
Ex minister of economics
Aha..
Someone who is supposed to mobilize entire russian economy for the long term war with the West.
Was Putin getting suspicious of him?
Doubtful. He's being transferred / promoted to the rear to Security Council Secretary, currently occupied by Putin's first permanent FSB director, who is most likely retiring in old age after being one of Putin's top spymasters during Putin's entire time in power. I expect this is a reward and a cushy high status, comparatively easy job for veteran spymasters. Shoigu gets to sit in the back with the big boys and pull the strings now.
I doubt anyone in this administration is getting the benefit of retiring in old age in the middle of a war.
It's wild to imagine someone going "okay Putin ole buddy ole chap. I think I'm done. Good luck with the whole war thing. I'm gonna kickback and grab my retirement, can you sign this release for me?"
Yes you can, if you've been friends with him for decades. And its unlikely that he just randomly sprung this on him. Must have told him a year or two ago.
They just need to place the blame for failure on someone.
No. Look who his replacement is - economist. It makes total sense, they are mobilizing entire russian economy for long term war with the West. The West should respond with overwhelming force now because it will be much costlier and harder to do so a year, 2 or 5 from now.
But, hey, we’ll be seeing stupid social media jokes instead on how Shoigu is supposed to avoid windows now.
Wonder if Pringles’ corpse is laughing in his plane wreckage.
Or his soul is finding a tiny bit of respite from his punishment in hell.
He will soon meet Shigou and ask where Gerasimov and his ammo
Lavrov potentially as well, unconfirmed allegations that Putin learned of a coup. Which will keep happening the longer his oligarch buddies are prevented from lounging around in Cannes.
This was a baseless rumor from Kyiv Post - we now know Lavrov isn't getting replaced and there's no evidence of a coup.
Or their refineries get bombed
According to this article we're talking about:
As he continues to confirm his top team, Mr Putin has also proposed Sergei Lavrov remain as foreign minister
A coup would be interesting, though.
Coup? What coup?
Coup coup kachoo
Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken?
chockeee chockeee chockeee
A coup is extremely unlikely as almost all of the Oligarchs money is inherently tied to Putin.
He, or part of the Kremlin gets wiped out, a lot of russia suddenly becomes insanely poor (yes, the irony isnt lost on me) for the forseeable future as they try to dig up all the assets.
They sacked Shoigu's deputy a few weeks ago, this is not new. Prigozin would cheer for this, good thing he's gone to hell already and is waiting for the rest of Putin's bunch to join him.
I’m actually surprised that happened. People talking about windows, unfortunately they’re probably safe since they were loyal til the end, I’d treat it more like a retirement
he was replaced by the head of economy
my bet is that putin plans to drain every inch dry of the russian economy to sustain the war effort in the hopes that the west will eventually focus on other issues and let ukraine fend for itsself
people say shoigu is a target, but that is unlikely, as putin at this point can trust no one, and just like putin, shoigu isn't exactly popular, so they're both in the same boat
if putin kills him, he has to welcome new people into his government that he absolutely cannot trust given the current situation
I think Putin knows this is for the long term and there is a chance that this will escalate very quickly to a direct confrontation with NATO. He needs to transition the Russian economy fully into a wartime economy as quickly and efficiently as possible. It makes sense to out someone with a string background in economics in charge while putting Shoigu in charge of security forces.
Well, that sounds ominous. Does Putin really relish the idea of a confrontation with NATO?
He was promoted, not fired as some here interpret the move. Very interesting, what will happen to Patrušev now.
I think this is Putin moving his allies into more favourable positions where the blame for failure can now be directed to scapegoats.
His so called allies may be signalling to him, that if they go down they take him down with them.
Putin doesn't wield power in a vacuum. He wields power by pitting what each of his allies bring to the table against his other allies. Sometimes that military and security power. And sometimes that's finance and resources.
It's possible right now that the allies responsible for his personal safety and security are demanding more protection from the inevitable fall out of a failed war campaign.
Interesting thoughts, but I'm not sure I'd count Shoigu among those in a position to really harm Putin in the fallout of a failed war. He's not one of the true siloviki, unlike guys such as Patrushev, Bortnikov, and Zolotov. Shoigu was a career politician and longtime friend of Putin, and his primary (and arguably only) value has been his loyalty. Perhaps Putin is doing this out of charity and generosity to Shoigu, if this is indeed about setting the new guy up to take the blame.
Still, Patrushev is one of these elites who probably has the strongest position to threaten Putin, and he's fired without any indication where he is going next. It will be interesting to see anyway.
Shoigu commands significant influence over this PCM called Patriot if I'm not mistaken.
Putin could be bringing Shoigu closer to his inner circle because he wants the security of that army should the Russian military turn against him. Especially now that hes essentially lost an influence figure that lead Wagner to do his bidding.
Or he could be taken Shoigu out of the sphere of influence for Patriot because he doesn't want a prighozin v2 breathing down his neck.
It's fun to speculate what's keeping him up at night.
This is a lateral move by Shoigu to Secretary of the Security Council, a position currently occupied by Putin's first FSB director who had been promoted to lead the Council after a decade and has served in this role for the last 15 years. Shoigu isn't out. Most likely the current Security Council Secretary is retiring and Shoigu is replacing him in a role that is shaping up to be high status. Shoigu is reportedly one of the few generals that Putin trusts with everything, so I expect that this is a permanent capstone role as a reward for serving Putin well.
Correct. Shoigu is a "family" member he cannot be compared with the ones that fell from a window. Although is being blamed by lots of mistakes, he will stay around.
Oh wow, didn't think he'd be one to go before the end, he seemed like one of the most hardcore putin loyalists. Curious what happened there
Hes still in the inner circle, he just has a new office. In fact hes not being assigned to lead the spy council, not a role you give to someone you dont trust.
To speculate on motives, its more likely boringly practical. They want an economics guy in charge now that Ukraine is on the backfoot and Russia more then ever needs to maintain supplies to keep what advantage they have. Whether this is effective only time will tell.
Lack of results is what happened, and he probably wanted out himself.
Moderator removed comment
21d
The Minister of Defense in Russia is more in charge of setting the rear up to support warfighting, not actually enacting new doctrine or commanding troops. Basically things like making sure the MIC is delivering supplies and equipment on time to units, that mobilization and recruitment are steady, that the General Staff have everything they need to fight, negotiating with other government agencies, etc.
In this case, I think appointing Belousov, a former economics minister, is actually a relatively smart move.
I agree. I think Shoigu may be loyal but not necessarily skilled at managing the ministries strategy for logistics and resourcing during a war economy. Putins basically put into place the wheels of motion to provide the military with the resources it needs, but Shoigu seems to be struggling with taking advantage of it for optimal results. Putin probably knows he has only so much runway to make the war economy going till it runs out of steam and nows the time to put a technocrat who understands economics of resources to get the most out of their so called military operations. Shoigus new role though does seem to be more along the lines of Putin thinking..."I know I need you. I just don't know what I'm really gonna do with you. But I need to hold you close cause you could take me down."
Never thought I'd witness Stalinism but here we are. Why is it still mostly business as usual with russia??
The real news is, that Patrushev is losing his position and Shoigu is being promoted to Secretary of the National Defence and Security Council.
Replacing a defense minister with over a decade of experience with an economist in the 11th year of an active war is a choice.
putin is like napoleon, never made a mistake in his life /s
just rewrite history after, people wont know the difference.
Can we assume that Kyiv will be minting Shoigu a special award to commemorate his incredible corruption and incompetence, which helped save Ukraine in their darkest hour?
So many misleading headlines, switching to national security from minister of defense is probably a setup. Why else give a military position to a dude who's background is in economics... Shoigu will have more influence and overview of more government agencies, a great promotion for the person who helped make Russia military incompetent, hopefully he screws up the rest of the country.
This is an extremely stupid take on what's actually going on, and shows the level of understanding about Russia on the West.
Patrushev is being replaced (and yes, by Shoigu), which is far more important.
Journalists, smh.
Don’t let the window shade hit you on the way out.
No surprise there. The amount of construction corruption he oversaw must have amounted to billions and billions of dollars in pocket money. No wonder he put in some no name economist as defense minister.
Yeah, I think Belousov's appointment makes a lot of sense, if the goal is to streamline the war economy. He isn't that well known but he seems pretty competent. Between this and Surovikin reputedly being placed in charge of the new Kharkiv offensive, at the very least it sounds like Putin is taking this new phase of the war pretty seriously.
I'm surprised this clown lasted this long. He had no military experience, no leadership experience, and no respect from the military. Thankfully he was at the helm when the invasion happened, because if it was someone more capable things could have been really bad.
Wondered when Shoigu’s top general was indicted for accepting money, how long Shoigu would last. Could this trigger a coup?
Wow
So he's gonna be dead within a few weeks?
Edit: nevermind, he was appointed to another position.
He was always meant to be a scapegoat.
I wonder if this is good news or bad news I guess time will tell. But if I was him, I would not take any private jets anywhere in Russia anytime soon.
SHOIIIIIIIGUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
YOU'RE BEING REPLACED
Good, we love turmoil in his inner circle
Lots of comments suggesting Sergei should avoid windows etc. He was reassigned to being the head of the Russian national security council, which isn’t a position you assign to somebody whose judgment you don’t value or trust.