Putin appoints civilian economist to lead defense ministry

Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday re-shuffled high-level cabinet members, replacing Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu with economist Andrei Belousov. Shoigu was moved to a post as the new Security Council secretary. The former secretary was also being moved to a different job.

Who is Belousov? He served as director of the Russian Department of Economy and Finance from 2008-2012 and was the country’s minister of economic development the following year. For seven years after that, he was a presidential aide, according to a government biography. In 2020, Putin appointed Belousov to serve as first deputy prime minister.

Why would an economist oversee military operations? Putin chose a civilian as minister of defense because innovation is needed in the role of defense chief, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media group TASS on Monday.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War on Sunday concluded that reshuffling the officials was part of Putin’s efforts to prepare for a protracted war with Ukraine and possibly NATO. Putin is seeking to build up the economy and defense industrial base, according to a briefing from the institute, which describes itself as a nonpartisan and not-for-profit research organization. The institute noted that, like Belousov, Shoigu was also a civilian when first appointed to the post.