May 12 (UPI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has replaced his defense minister as part of a shake-up of his national security team, the Kremlin announced Sunday.
Andrei R. Belousov, an economist who has served as deputy prime minister and the economic development minister, is Putin’s choice to be the new defense chief.
If approved, Belousov will replace Sergei Shoigu, who will stay in the cabinet to run the country’s security council, the Kremlin said.
This is Putin’s first security team shakeup since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and could presage other changes as the war presses on, The New York Times reported.
Analysts have said Putin did not expect fierce resistance from Ukraine nor the international support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Nikolai Patrushev, a former KGB colleague of Putin who has headed the Russian security council for 16 years, will be moved to another position in the coming days, the Kremlin said.
A large increase in Russia’s defense budget amid the war prompted Putin to make the changes, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.
“It is very important to fit the economy of the security bloc into the country’s economy, to fit it in so that it corresponds to the dynamics of the current moment,” Peskov said.
The changes come on the heels of Putin’s inauguration. He is now serving his fifth term as Russian president.