Russia | Researcher: Šoigu was not fired, but promoted

The new defense minister, Belousov, is very conservative and the only significant economic expert who immediately supported the occupation of Crimea, the expert says.

12.5. 23:59 | Updated 7:38 am

Russian to leave the duties of the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu didn’t get fired but promoted, states the program director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Arkady Moshes in a telephone interview.

Russia’s autocratic president Vladimir Putin transfer Šoigu to the position of Secretary of the Security Council. Has handled a very influential task until now Nikolai Patrushev, whose fate is now to move on to vaguely formulated “new tasks”. Patrushev has been considered Putin’s confidant, and he has even been described as Putin’s “right hand”.

“There have been rumors for a long time about Patrušev’s son [aiemmin maatalousministerinä toimineesta uuden hallituksen varapääministeristä Dmitri Patruševista] let’s raise a follower of Putin”, says Moshes.

“I guess Nikolai Patrushev became too influential for Putin.”

More detailed information about Putin’s motives is not yet available.

“We will know more when we hear about Nikolai Patrušev’s new assignment.”

Throughout his career, Šoigu has moved to where Putin has needed a credit man to oversee the operations.

“He was not a professional soldier by background, but he was put in the Ministry of Defense to supervise professional soldiers. In his new role, he supervises not only the soldiers, but the entire security apparatus,” says Moshes.

Arkady Moshes, Program Director of the Foreign Policy Institute. Picture: Heikki Saukkomaa / Newspaper photo

Fresh other views have also been presented. The US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) sees in his daily report As a reduction in the value of Šoigu’s transfer.

According to ISW, Šoigu’s case is in line with Putin’s way of moving decision-makers who have lost popularity to “peripheral” positions in the security apparatus instead of direct firings.

A potential problem with ISW’s analysis is that Patrushev has long been one of Putin’s closest advisers and, according to ISW, the second most influential person in Russia. His position as Secretary of the Security Council has been very important and not at all “peripheral”.

In Russia, power depends on how close you get to Putin and how much you can influence his decisions.

ISW also states that additional information about Putin’s intentions will only be available when Patrušev’s new title is announced.

For a new one becomes defense minister from the background of an economic expert and deputy prime minister Andrei Belousov.

“Putin replaced one creditor with another in the Ministry of Defense. Belousov is a very conservative supporter of strong state leadership. He was also the only economist who supported the plan to occupy Crimea in 2014. He shares Putin’s ideology,” says Moshes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Belousov’s financial expertise in particular on Sunday and said that the transfer gives the Ministry of Defense new opportunities for “progressive ideas” in a situation where state security spending has risen from three percent to 6.7 percent in relation to the gross domestic product.