Moscow, 13 May 2024
On Sunday evening, Russian President Putin announced changes in the military part of the Russian Government. The reshuffle in the security forces was announced late in the evening of May 12. According to the Russian Constitution, every minister subordinated to the President must be approved by the Federation Council. After this, the president signs the decree. Consultations were scheduled for May 13.
According to Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu was removed from the post of Minister of Defense by presidential decree and appointed as Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. The current Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev will be transferred to another job that is to be announced late. Patrushev was director of the FSB in 1999–2008, after that – secretary of the Security Council, one of the decision-making bodies under the head of state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent proposals to the Federation Council on candidates for heads of a number of ministries, including security forces, in the new Cabinet, the press service of the upper house reports.
In particular, the head of state proposed to appoint First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Removich Belousov to the post of Russian Defense Minister, replacing Shoigu. Peskov explained that Putin is appointing a civilian official to the post of head of the Ministry of Defense due to the need to introduce innovations; it will also be necessary to “fit” the economy of the security bloc into the country’s economy, since the share of defense spending has increased in recent years.
Peskov also explained that Belousov’s appointment will not change the “system of coordinates in the military component of the department.” The head of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov shall remain responsible for it and shall continue his activities, which some Russian analysts doubt.
Most of the other leaders who will be appointed by the president retained their posts.
So, Putin proposed reassigning:
- Vladimir Kolokoltsev – Minister of Internal Affairs;
- Alexandra Kurenkova – Minister of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief;
- Sergei Lavrov – Minister of Foreign Affairs;
- Konstantin Chuychenko – Minister of Justice;
- Sergei Naryshkin – director of the Foreign Intelligence Service;
- Alexandra Bortnikova – Director of the Federal Security Service;
- Viktor Zolotov – director of the Russian Guard;
- Dmitry Konchev – director of the FSO;
- Alexander Lints – head of the main directorate of special programs of the president.
Peskov explained that the budget share of the Ministry of Defense and the security bloc grew from formerly 3% to 6.7%, close to figures of the Cold War. According to Russian analysts quoted by business daily Vedomosti, Belousov’s task is to build an economic and infrastructural basis for the army to fight, but on a higher technological level, including unmanned vehicles. This might imply that his appointment could be followed by reshuffles in the leadership of the ministry.
Sources – Russian Media reports