Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially appointed Andrey Belousov as the new minister of defence.
Belousov, an economist by trade, is a former first deputy prime minister and Putin’s long-time adviser on economic matters.
Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained his appointment by the fact that the “battlefield is now dominated by those who are more open to innovations and are ready to introduce them in the fastest way possible.”
Belousov officially entered his post on Tuesday evening, when Putin signed the decree on the new cabinet, after receiving the approval of the State Duma.
Sergey Shoigu, who had served as defence minister for almost twelve years, was appointed secretary of the Russian Security Council on Sunday.
Putin to travel to Beijing with Shoigu and Belousov
Both Belousov and Shoigu are expected to travel with Putin to Beijing later this week for a series of meetings with their Chinese counterparts.
The shake-up at the defence ministry comes as Russian forces are advancing all along the frontline. The latest push is north of Kharkiv, where a major operation began last Friday and has already resulted in the capture of several settlements and major Ukrainian losses. Kyiv has frantically shifted several units from Kherson and Donetsk to the northern front.
Kyiv’s troop movement does leave Donetsk front more vulnerable, as the defender is already battling against a major shortage of manpower.
Spreading the already sparse troops across the long front makes the defence line thinner and easier to penetrate. All while the latest U.S. arms aid has yet to be realised on the Ukrainian front. More Russian breakthroughs are to be expected.
