President Putin has named economist Andrei Belousov as Moscow’s defense minister, replacing long-serving Sergei Shoigu.Mr. Shoigu was now appointed as Russia’s security chief.ncil, replacing fired Security Chief Nikolai Patrushev — Key figures in Putin’s security apparatus He will now work as an aide to the Russian president.
Summary, Realignment promotes economics rather than military thinking Experts told The Hill that it is aimed at sustaining Putin’s war machine for years and eradicating any threat from potential usurpers.
“There will be more arrestsIn fact, more than anything else, this is a signal that “it doesn’t matter whether the old rules are new or not, the new rules are different,” said Mark Galeotti, a Russia expert and head of consultancy Mayak Intelligence in London. said. .
Galeotti also said that this change was due to President Putin “Deep digging in the long term” More than two years have already passed since fighting began in Ukraine.
President Putin earlier this week become president for a fifth termensuring that he remains Russia’s leader until at least 2030.
One of his first tasks will be to replace Shoigu, who has served as defense minister since 2012, revamping the Kremlin’s national security team. For the first time since the Russian invasion In Ukraine in February 2022.
He will be replaced by Belousov, who is Putin’s deputy prime minister and economic advisor, but has never served in the military.The conversion is depicted as Moves to rationalize national defense spending.
Others, however, see the timing of the change as a further policy move before Putin arrives in Beijing this week for the first state guest of his new term. Deeper integration of the Russian economy with China This is to maintain long-term military power.
“This is an attempt by President Putin to draw China deeper into the war effort. Linking the Russian and Chinese economies In a way that we can win the war with China’s support,” Jonathan Ward, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington, told The Hill.
Cumulatively, Cabinet change marks a turning point Russia’s more than two-year war in Ukraine has militarized virtually the entire government structure and turned it into a fighting machine.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
