After beginning the duties of his new presidential term… the Russian President made government changes began by dismissing the Minister of Defense

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday evening dismissed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who had held the position since 2012, in a major change in the military leadership a few days after his inauguration for a fifth presidential term and more than two years after the war in Ukraine.

Putin proposed economist Andrei Belousov to replace Shoigu, according to a list of ministerial nominations published by the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament.

Putin also issued a decree appointing Shoigu as the new Secretary-General of the National Security Council, succeeding Nikolai Patrushev, whose new duties will be announced in the coming days.

According to Russian State media who quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, “Shoigu will continue to work in this sector (defense), which he knows well, knows well from the inside, along with his colleagues and partners at his previous workplace”.

Putin is constitutionally obligated to appoint a new group of ministers in the government – or reappoint current ministers – after his victory in the March elections in which the opposition was absent.

Lawmakers in the Russian Duma must approve the president’s nominations, which they are scheduled to do on Tuesday.

The big adjustment comes as Russian forces advance on the battlefield for the first time in months.

Shoigu (68) has served as Russia’s Defense Minister since 2012, and has embodied the stability of the various governments under Putin, just like Sergei Lavrov, who maintains his position as Foreign Minister.

The new minister of defense, Andrei Belousov (65), has no military background.

He has been the first deputy head of the last government since 2020 and one of Putin’s main economic advisors in recent years, and he even briefly served as Minister of Economic Development between May 2012 and June 2013.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov justified Putin’s decision on the grounds that there was a need that emanated directly from the front, after more than two years of fighting in Ukraine, with no clear end to the conflict in sight.

“Today, on the battlefield, the person who wins is the one who is most open to innovation,” he said.

Peskov added that in Putin’s view, “the Defense Ministry should be completely open to innovation, to introducing all advanced ideas, and creating conditions for economic competitiveness”.

The Kremlin spokesman also indicated that Valery Gerasimov, the chief of staff, would retain his position.

Peskov said that in the coming days, the future role of Nikolai Patrushev, who has served as Secretary General of the National Security Council since 2008 and before that was head of the Federal Security Service during Putin’s first two presidential terms, will be announced.

The head of foreign intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin, will retain his position, as will the head of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov.

Representatives of the Duma and the Federation Council, the two houses of the Russian Parliament, are scheduled to approve these unexpected changes on Monday and Tuesday, a formality because they are dominated by the United Russia party led by Vladimir Putin, in the absence of any actual opposition.