Russian president dismisses Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday evening. Shoigu had held the position since 2012, in a significant military leadership change just days after Putin's inauguration for a fifth presidential term and over two years into the war in Ukraine.

Putin proposed economist Andrei Belousov to replace Shoigu, according to the ministerial nominations list published by the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament.

Putin also issued a decree appointing Shoigu as the new Secretary of the Security Council, replacing Nikolai Patrushev, whose new duties will be announced "in the coming days," according to official media reports.

Official media quoted Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, as saying, "Shoigu will continue to work in this (defense) sector, which he knows well, knows well from the inside, alongside his colleagues and partners in his former workplace."

The nominations by the president must be approved by lawmakers in the Russian parliament, which is expected to do so on Tuesday.

AFP