Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in office since 2012, on Sunday May 12, to replace him with Andrei Beloussov, an economist with no military training.
A surprise reshuffle. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Sunday May 12 the replacement of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu by Andreï Beloussov. The decision is unexpected as the previous minister had been in office since 2012 and the Russian army is advancing on the Ukrainian front in the Kharkiv region. What do we know about the new minister?
An economist by training, Andreï Beloussov, 65, graduated in economics from Moscow State University in 1981, with honors, according to the Reuters agency.
Little is known about his private life. The Russian investigative media RBC simply indicates that Andrei Beloussov practiced two martial arts in his youth, karate and sambo. The latter is a mixture of judo, boxing and wrestling and was created in the USSR in the 1930s.
Accustomed to Russian politics
Without any military training, Andreï Beloussov is, however, no stranger to Russian politics. In more than 20 years, he has held various positions, mainly in the economic field.
In 2000, he began his political career by being appointed non-permanent advisor to the Russian Prime Minister. In 2006 he became deputy minister in charge of the Economy. From 2008 to 2012, he then served as director of the Department of Economy and Finance within the government, then headed by Vladimir Putin.
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In 2012, he took over as head of the Ministry of Economic Development for a short time, before becoming advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, from 2013 to 2020. He then temporarily replaced Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in 2020, when the latter fell ill after having been infected with the Covid-19 virus, a sign of the trust placed in it.
In the war in Ukraine, Andrei Belousov played an important role in supervising Russian drones, according to Reuters.
A close friend of Putin
Regarding his link with Vladimir Putin, Andreï Beloussov is considered close to the Russian president, although we do not know exactly what his degree of influence is.
The Russian investigative media RBC just reported in 2017 that the new minister was one of the senior Russian leaders to have convinced the Kremlin tenant of the importance of investing in the digital economy and in blockchain. .
He also shares Vladimir Putin’s vision regarding the need for a strong Russian state and identity. “What a sovereign country absolutely must have is the possession of its own meaning. Who are we, where do we come from, where are we going? We have no other choice for our country than to acquire or reproduce this identity”, said the new Minister of Defense in an interview with RBC in 2023.
A response to a need for “innovation”
When announcing the appointment of the new minister, the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies, justified Vladimir Putin’s decision by citing the need for change, while the war with Ukraine has continued for more than two years, with no end in sight.
“Today, on the battlefield, the one who wins is the one who is most open to innovation,” he said.
According to Vladimir Putin, “the Ministry of Defense must be absolutely open to innovation, to the introduction of all advanced ideas, to the creation of conditions for economic competitiveness,” his spokesperson further explained.
The dismissal of Sergei Shoigu constitutes the most important change carried out by the tenant of the Kremlin concerning military command since the start of the offensive in Ukraine.
Juliette Desmonceaux with agencies
2024-05-13 08:01:06
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