Putin appoints civilian economist as Russia's new defense minister

Vladimir Putin has decided to change the position of the Minister of Defense of Russia. He chose Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, replacing Sergei Shoigu with an economist without military experience. Putin aims to defeat Ukraine with the power of the Russian economy, according to Monday's "Rzeczpospolita".

Vladimir Putin unexpectedly changes the Minister of Defense of Russia. The current head of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, has been appointed as the chairman of the Russian Security Council.

The promotion of Andrey Belousov signifies the army will now be led by an economist lacking military experience.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin decided to have a civilian become the Minister of Defense because "The one who is more open to innovations is the one who will be victorious on the battlefield".

The selection of Belousov is intended to optimize the use of the available defence budget, suggests "Rzeczpospolita".

Belousov served as the First Deputy Prime Minister in the previous government of Mikhail Mishustin and acted as Prime Minister for several months. He has also been Putin's economic advisor for many years. Reuters notes that Belousov played a critical role in overseeing the development of Russia's drone-building program.

According to Reuters, the reshuffle at the Ministry of Defence aims to scrutinize defence spending more closely. Defensive expenditures related to the war, which has been ongoing for two years, have reached 7.4 percent of GDP.

As reported by Alexander Baunov, a quoted former Russian diplomat and current expert at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Putin's plans "the proposal to appoint one of the main court economists and the main state minister in the economic bloc to head the Defence Ministry may mean that Putin is planning to win the war with the defence industry plants and international markets."

"Rzeczpospolita" assesses that the new strategy is designed to suffocate Ukraine with the force of the Russian economy.

As reported by the AP agency, Shoigu's future as Minister of Defense in the new government was uncertain, partly because ministry officials were implicated in corruption scandals. Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov was arrested at the end of April.

He is suspected of accepting a huge bribe and faces up to 15 years in prison. The British Defense Ministry later stated that the investigation into Ivanov's case likely involved the higher-ranking First Deputy Minister of Defense Ruslan Tsalikov.

Shoigu faced criticism over the conduct of the war in Ukraine.

The ministers and the Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, whom Putin reappointed, must still be confirmed by the lower house of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma. These changes coincide with Putin's sworn in for another term as President of Russia on Tuesday.