Putin replaces Sergei Shoigu as Defence Minister in surprise move, appoints civilian economist in his place

Moscow: Days after his glittering inauguration, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise move by replacing his long-term ally and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu with a civilian economist as he began his fifth term, ostensibly to prepare Russia for economic war by trying to better utilise the defence budget and win the two-year-long war in Ukraine. Shoigu's new role as head of Russia's Security Council Putin had other plans for Shoigu, in charge of defence since 2012 and a long-standing friend and ally, as he appointed the 68-year-old former minister to become the secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council, replacing incumbent Nikolai Patrushev, and to also have responsibilities for the military-industrial complex, according to the Kremlin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that Putin had decided to give the defence minister role to a civilian because the ministry should be “open to innovation and cutting-edge ideas.” The shake-up, which caught the elite off-guard, indicates Putin is doubling down on the Ukraine war and wants to harness more of Russia's economy for the war after the West sought, but failed so far, to sink the economy with sanctions. According to Peskov, the increasing defence budget “must fit into the country's wider economy,” and Belousov, who until recently served as the first deputy prime minister, is the right fit for the job.