Why has Putin removed key ally as defence minister?
By Steve Rosenberg
A few thoughts about Russian reshuffles.
Mr Shoigu is considered a close ally of President Putin.
Sergei Shoigu has been replaced as defence minister by technocrat economist Andrei Belousov. Mr Shoigu hasn’t been made redundant. He’ll head the Russian Security Council in place of the hawkish Nikolai Patrushev.
But what’s interesting is that Vladimir Putin chose this moment to make the switch. The president had stuck by Shoigu in 2022 when Russia was suffering military setbacks in Ukraine.
