Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as the new Minister of Defense in place of Sergei Shoigu, TASS reported, citing a decree published today on the website of the Kremlin, BTA reported.
AFP said the surprise ouster of Shoigu, 68, was part of sweeping government changes proposed by Putin days after he was sworn in on Tuesday for a fifth term as head of state. The Russian president replaced the defense minister more than two years after the start of the so-called special military operation in neighboring Ukraine, which has been faltering.
The Russian army is now advancing in Kharkiv Oblast - a few days after launching a ground offensive in the northeastern Ukrainian region - and is intensifying its push into the Donbass, especially towards the town of Chasov Yar. However, it suffered some humiliating defeats after its invasion of Ukraine and suffered heavy losses, AFP and Reuters summarize.
Shoigu, who has been defense minister since 2012 and has drawn much criticism since the start of the war against Ukraine, will become secretary of the powerful Security Council of the Russian Federation, replacing Nikolai Patrushev. Considered close to Putin, he will also be responsible for the development of the military industrial complex, according to Reuters.
Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov retains his post, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
As for Patrushev, he will be appointed to another post, Peskov also said, but did not specify which one.
Future Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, 65, is an economist by education.
"The Ministry of Defense must be completely open to innovation, to embrace all progressive ideas. That is why the president chose Belousov's candidacy," Peskov explained the surprising appointment, quoted by Reuters.
He added that "Shoigu will continue to work in this field, which he knows well, which he knows very well from the inside, with his colleagues and partners at his previous workplace,", AFP reported.
Belousov will be replaced as First Deputy Prime Minister by Denis Manturov. Until now, Manturov was deputy prime minister and minister of industry and trade.
Anton Alikhanov will be the new Minister of Industry and Trade, and Sergey Tsivilev will replace Nikolai Shulginov as Minister of Energy.
Other key figures in the Russian government keep their posts. Among them are Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and longtime Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has led Russian diplomacy for two decades.
The directors of the Federal Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service, Alexander Bortnikov and Sergey Naryshkin, also remain.
Alexander Novak retains his position as Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the economy and energy.
Both houses of the Russian parliament are expected to approve these unexpected changes in the government today and tomorrow, according to AFP. The votes will be a formality, as Putin's United Russia party controls the State Duma and the Council of the Federation, where there is no real opposition.