What new faces appear in Belousov's team? The Russian Ministry of Defense continues to "reshuffle" personnel

Release time:Jun 19, 2024 05:50 AM

According to China News Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order on June 17 to remove Nikolay Pankov from his post as State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Defense, Ruslan Tsalikov from his post as First Deputy Minister of Defense, and Tatyana Shevtsova from her post as Deputy Minister of Defense. Pavel Popov was also removed from his post as Deputy Minister of Defense and his active military status was revoked.

At the same time, Putin appointed four new deputy defense ministers: Leonid Gornin as first deputy defense minister, Oleg Saveliev as deputy defense minister and director of the Defense Ministry's Office, Pavel Fradkov and Anna Zhivileva as deputy defense ministers.

Since Belousov was appointed as the new Russian Defense Minister and Shoigu was transferred to the position of Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council on May 12, there have been constant personnel changes in the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Since the end of April, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, Director of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense Yuri Kuznetsov, former commander of the 58th Army of the Russian Armed Forces Ivan Popov, Deputy Chief of the Russian General Staff and Director of the Main Directorate of Communications of the General Staff Vadim Shamalin, and Director of the Defense Order Support Department of the Russian Ministry of Defense Vladimir Verteretsky have successively been "brought down" for charges of bribery and other crimes.

Many of the new defense ministry officials have previous economic backgrounds. Some analysts believe that the new team of the Russian Defense Ministry will cooperate with Belousov, who worked in the Russian Federal Ministry of Economic Development for many years, to achieve his goal of "every ruble should work for victory."

On May 12, after the war between Russia and Ukraine lasted for more than 800 days, Shoigu, the longest-serving defense minister in Russian history, was replaced by Belousov, who has worked in the economic field for a long time and has never held a senior position in the military or other security agencies. Many scholars previously analyzed to The Paper that Putin's personnel adjustment may be a preparation for the long-term conflict between Russia and Ukraine, helping Russia save domestic resources and enable military operations to continue, while implementing development tasks in other fields and consolidating the "rear area".

After the replacement of the Defense Minister, there were also personnel changes in the position of Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

According to the latest order signed by Putin on June 17, the new first deputy minister of the Russian Defense Ministry is Gornin, who was previously deputy minister of finance and was responsible for budget policy in the military and defense contracts. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Gornin's main task is to increase the transparency of fund flows and ensure the effective use of budget funds.

A source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense told Izvestia that Gornin is an "obvious" choice, as he is responsible for overseeing the budget and has experience in management and legal departments. "But the most interesting thing is that he always gives people the impression of a soldier, and his entourage and secretariat are completely based on military discipline, doing things clearly and meticulously. It can be said that he is a person who understands finance and has a military background."

The new Deputy Defense Minister and Director of the Defense Department's Office, Savelyev, previously served as Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, and also worked in the Russian Federal Ministry of Crimea Affairs and the Russian Federal Audit Office. The BBC quoted a source as saying that Savelyev's previous work was mainly "engaging in theoretical research and writing strategies, rather than solving urgent problems."

Another new deputy defense minister, Mikhail Fradkov, also has an economic background. He has worked in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Security Service, and the Federal State Property Management Bureau. After 2021, he will serve as the first deputy director of the Russian Presidential Office. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Fradkov will manage property and construction as a deputy minister. It is worth noting that his father, Mikhail Fradkov, served as the Russian Prime Minister from 2004 to 2007 and as the Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service from 2007 to 2016.

Zhivileva has a background in medicine and economics. She has served as the chairman of the board of directors of the Russian "Kolmar" coal group since 2018. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, she served as the head of the "Fatherland Defender Foundation", mainly responsible for helping mobilized personnel and veterans' families. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Zhivileva will be mainly responsible for providing social and housing support to the army as deputy defense minister, and raising all relevant processes of the army to a new people-oriented quality level.

A month ago, Tsivileva's husband Sergei Tsivilev was just appointed as Russia's Minister of Energy, and Tsivileva herself was revealed to have a family relationship with Putin.

Analysts generally believe that this round of personnel changes is a "logical" decision. Russian military expert Vasily Dandykin analyzed that Belousov had previously stated that it is very important to restore order in the financial field so that every penny can meet the needs of the army and the front line. "All appointments are in line with this action program. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to streamline spending."

Russian political scientist Konstantin Kalachev said that what the Ministry of Defense needs now is someone who can carefully calculate the budget. In addition, it is also necessary to create good conditions for soldiers. "We need to make soldiers feel that they are truly regarded as the objects of care, and their needs and wishes are the center of national attention. From ammunition, military equipment updates to the most modern weapon systems, they are the real priority."

While Belousov was welcoming new members to his team, Shoigu's team was leaving the Ministry of Defense.

Shortly after Shoigu's transfer, Yuri Sadovinko, who had served as deputy defense minister since 2013 and had long worked with Shoigu, was dismissed at the end of May. According to Russian business media Vedomosti, among the four deputy defense ministers who were dismissed on June 17, Pankov had been working in the Ministry of Defense since 2002 when Sergei Ivanov was in charge, Shevtsova was transferred to the Ministry by then Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in 2010, and Tsalikoff and Popov worked with Shoigu when he worked in the Ministry of Emergency Situations. A source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense revealed that compared with Tsalikoff and Popov, Pankov and Shevtsova were not Shoigu's "closest partners." But in the end, the two were also dismissed.

It is reported that after the resignation of the above-mentioned people, all deputy ministers during Shoigu's entire term as Minister of Defense have left the Ministry of Defense and have been replaced by "time-tested professionals."

Before the replacement of the Russian Defense Minister, Ivanov, the former Deputy Defense Minister who was considered to be Shoigu's "confidant", was arrested for bribery. At that time, this incident was considered by the outside world to be a signal that Shoigu would be weakened.

After Belousov was appointed as the new Defense Minister on May 12, several senior officials of the Ministry of Defense were successively "brought down". Among them, Kuznetsov, who was in charge of personnel work, was accused of accepting a huge bribe from a businessman to assist in signing a military contract. Shamarin, the head of the communications department, was also accused of accepting a huge bribe from a telecommunications company in exchange for a state contract. Verteletsky, who was in charge of defense orders, was accused of "abuse of power" and caused the Ministry of Defense to suffer huge losses due to illegal operations.

In addition to the above three people, Ivan Popov, the former commander of the 58th Army of the Russian Armed Forces, was also arrested. After the Wagner rebellion last year, Popov criticized the Russian military top brass in a leaked audio and was subsequently dismissed. When he was arrested this year, Popov was accused of fraud and was suspected of reselling more than 1,700 tons of metal used to build front-line fortifications.

Although Shoigu has left the Ministry of Defense, he still retains a certain influence in related fields. In addition to his post as secretary of the Russian Security Council, Shoigu is also responsible for managing the affairs of the Russian Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Agency, serving as deputy chairman of the Russian Military-Industrial Committee and coordinator of the development of the military-industrial complex.

In response to a series of personnel changes amid the anti-corruption wave, Russian presidential press secretary Peskov once said that anti-corruption is an ongoing task for Russia and "not a campaign."

Russian political scientist Mikhail Komin pointed out that Shoigu's circle is one of the most rent-seeking groups among the Russian elite.

A series of presidential decrees on personnel appointments and restructuring of the Ministry of Defense seem to indicate that the new Defense Minister Belousov is gradually beginning to change the face and functions of the Ministry of Defense. Belousov is working to improve the efficiency of interaction between all agencies and provide the armed forces with all necessary resources.

"Everyone expected that the personnel changes in the Ministry of Defense would be quite serious. The fact that the old team is about to leave is also obvious," said Simonov, general manager of the Russian National Energy Security Fund. But he also pointed out that if the previous ministers were civilians and many deputy ministers were military representatives, then the number of civilians in the leadership of the Ministry of Defense is now "astonishing."

Regarding Putin's recent appointments and dismissals of senior members of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian political analyst Sergei Markov said: "So far, this only means that Shoigu's entire team will leave. Will this become Belousov's team? The future will tell."

Speaking of the new officials of the Ministry of Defense, Kartapolov, chairman of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma, said in an interview with Russian media RTVI: "These people are very capable. After all, their predecessors have worked in the same place for 12 years. Their eyes have become blurred during this time. Maybe some nuances can be seen at a glance by a newcomer, but for them, these nuances have become invisible."

Kartapolov also said that "we don't have high expectations" but rather "normal and realistic" expectations for the results.

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