On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced personnel changes in the military-political leadership of the Russian Federation. One of the key events was the change in the post of Minister of Defense, where Sergei Shoigu was replaced by the former first assistant Putin, Andrei Belousov. The reasons for such changes are still unknown, but the head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov remains.
Andriy Bilousov, 65-year-old new head of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, known as "systemic liberal". According to experts, it maintains general liberal values, but at the same time is a devoted supporter of the Putin system and the faithful "leader".
Bilousov entered the Russian government with the support of Herman Gref, then Minister of Economic Development and Trade, in 2006. However, his relations with the government date back to Boris Yeltsin when he advised Yevgeny Primakov, a former Prime Minister.
After coming to the government in 2013, Bilousov became Putin's assistant on economic issues, and in 2020 he took the position of the First Vice Prime Minister. It is also considered one of the main ideologues of "military Keynesianism", a strategy for large costs for military goals to stimulate economic development, which, according to experts, has become an important factor in Russia's economic growth.
In May 2023, Andriy Bilousov personally presented Putin's analysis of problems in creating a full cycle of drone production in the Russian Federation. It is probably because of this that the dictator considers the ability to put on him the responsibility for supplying the army and the production of weapons without interfering with military operations.
Putin's spokeswoman, Dmitry Peskov, commented on this appointment, noting that openness to innovation is a key on the battlefield, so it is important that the head of the Ministry of Defense becomes a civilian. He also emphasized that Belousov would not have an impact on the course of war.
The analyst Igor Tyshkevich noted that the duties of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation are not limited to the supply of the army and the production of weapons. In particular, he focused on the construction in the occupied territories, residential facilities for military and defense structures, which makes this position key in the structure of the Ministry of Defense.
It is worth noting that since 2022, Belousov has been under the sanctions of Ukraine, the European Union, the USA, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia because of its support for war.
It is noticeable that Andrei Belousov refrained from large scandals and loud statements. There is also a theory that Putin uses these personnel changes to remove Mykola Patrushev, as Sergei Shoigu was appointed.
In his childhood, Andriy Bilousov was engaged in karate, which could be one of the reasons for his interest in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, except for his professionalism in economic matters. In addition, he successfully graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University with a red diploma.
It is also worth noting that his father, Rem Belousov, was a well -known Soviet economist and author of the book "Fundamentals of Scientific Management of the Socialist Economy" in 1975. Interestingly, the name of ROM appeared in the USSR in the 1930s as a reduction in the phrase "World Revolution".
On this day, Putin officially suggested the replacement of Sergiy Shoig as Minister of Defense of Russia. Other changes in senior military leadership and special services look like this:
Interior Minister - Volodymyr Kolokoltsev; Minister of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Elimination of the Consequences of Natural Disaster - Alexander Kurenkov; Foreign Minister - Sergey Lavrov; Defense Minister - Bilousov Andriy Removich; Justice Minister - Konstantin Konstantin; Director of Foreign Intelligence Service - Narishkin Sergey; Director of the Federal Security Service - Alexander Bortnikov; Director of the Federal Service of the National Guard troops - Viktor Zolotov; Director of the Federal Security Service - Dmitry Kochnev; Head of the Main Department of Special Programs of the President - Linz Alexander Leonidovich; The Chairman of the Accounting Chamber is Boris Kovalchuk. We will remind that in Russia recorded a case of bribery at the deputy shoig. For this he faces up to 15 years in prison.
