‘Putin Sought An Opportunity To Get Rid Of Shoigu’

Why was an economist appointed head of the Russian Ministry of Defense?

Putin removed Sergei Shoigu from the post of Russian Defense Minister, moving the general to the post of Secretary of the Security Council instead of Nikolai Patrushev. The post of Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation was taken by Andrei Belousov, a hereditary economist who did not serve and never had anything to do with the army.

Co-director of foreign policy programs, coordinator of international projects of the Razumkov Center, Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Melnyk, in a commentary for the Charter97.org website, expressed the opinion that Shoigu was chosen as a “scapegoat”:

— Shoigu’s resignation has been prepared for a very long time, especially after the failures that occurred in the Kupyansk and Kherson directions. I think one of Shoigu’s functions back then, not without the highest permission, was a scapegoat. Then everything was blamed on him, all failures. This was very intensively dispersed by Russian military officers, here we can recall Prigozhin’s open speech, the main idea of his march was the removal of Shoigu from his post.

Putin understood this very well and was looking for an opportunity to somehow get rid of him, but without sending a signal to other loyal leaders that he could not protect Shoigu. Now a very opportune moment has simply come to replace Shoigu somewhere, and Putin took advantage of this.

This shift should not be regarded as a decrease, it is horizontal. Maybe with a slight downward slope. But the role of the Secretary of the Security Council is unique in that it depends on the person who occupies it how much they can use this post. Here this is not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense. Shoigu may have some influence on other departments. Let's see how much he will try to play some kind of independent influential role.

— Andrei Belousov is a man far from military affairs. He is more connected with the economic bloc. What could his appointment mean?

— Calling Shoigu a full-fledged general would be an exaggeration. In the police or other law enforcement agencies, a general is more of a special rank rather than a military one. He can be called a general rather conditionally, because he did not receive a classical military education, he did not have a career like that of generals of the armed forces, although he has all these regalia.

By the way, it will be interesting to see whether Putin will award the rank of general to Belousov. I wouldn't say that this is Belousov's big drawback. Rather, it is an advantage. He doesn't have that corporate ethic. This is just such a classic of democratic countries, when a current general is not appointed to the post of Minister of Defense, which ensures effective management and independent control over the security department.

For Russians, it’s a plus that Belousov is an economist. But for us (Ukrainians — edit.) this may be a minus. The only thing that is not entirely clear now is what will be a big priority for him. Either he will maintain this balance between the war economy and the economic policy of the state, or he will defend the honor of his uniform, realizing that he now bears a large share of responsibility for the further course of the war. The question is whether he will now try to pull more money from the economy for the needs of the military-industrial complex and the war.