Russian President Vladimir Putin has replaced Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu with conservative economist Andrei Belousov. According to an expert, Belousov is the only significant economic expert who immediately supported the occupation of Crimea. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov praised Belousov’s financial expertise and stated that his appointment will bring new opportunities for “progressive ideas” in light of increased state security spending.
Shoigu was not fired but instead promoted to the position of Secretary of the Security Council by Putin. He has been moved to this new position to oversee the entire security apparatus, replacing Nikolai Patrushev, whose new tasks are currently undefined. It is speculated that Patrushev became too influential to Putin and his son may be raising Putin’s successor. The exact motives behind Putin’s decisions are not yet clear, but more information may come to light with Patrushev’s new assignment.
Putin has replaced one creditor in the Ministry of Defense with another, as Belousov shares Putin’s ideology and will now oversee the defense apparatus in Russia. Throughout his career, Shoigu has been placed by Putin where his credit was needed to oversee operations, despite not having a professional soldier background. Belousov is also a conservative supporter of strong state leadership and was the only economist to support the plan to occupy Crimea.
