Russian war bloggers gleefully waved Shoigu goodbye
23.05.2024
On the evening of May 12, it was announced that President Vladimir Putin would replace Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu with businessman Andrey Belousov. This news quickly caused a buzz in the Russian blogosphere. However, it soon became apparent that Shoigu would not be facing an embarrassing retirement or an envoy post in Mongolia, akin to the long-serving Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Having served as defence minister since 2012, Shoigu was instead promoted to the critical role of secretary of the Russian Security Council.
At the same time, several war bloggers and Telegram war news channels did not hide their satisfaction with Shoigu’s removal as Defence Minister. For example, Mikhail Zvinchuk, who runs one of the largest Russian war news-focused Telegram channels, Rybar (with 1.2 million followers), said in a television interview that although Shoigu’s replacement was a surprise to him, he considers it good news.
Belousov has a few months
Problems in the army have grown like a snowball, and no one intends to deny them – they are indeed real. Another thing is that Minister Shoigu has long served as a lightning rod. Everything is bad in the army, who is to blame? Correct, the minister and the chief of the general staff [Gerassimov]. Now the lightning rod is being removed.
According to Zvintshuk, the new Defence Minister Andrei Belousov has about three months during which he can say he is still settling in. If things do not improve within those three months, then “questions will start being asked.”
The YouTube channel “Redaktsija” published an interview with military expert Valery Shiryaev, who was surprised by how much joy the departure of Defence Minister Shoigu brought to Russian military personnel. “Can you imagine – champagne was bought in brigade headquarters!” described Shiryaev in the video blog with four million followers. “I could not have expected such joy, such wild enthusiasm.”
Russian war bloggers were very pleased and amplified the new Defence Minister’s statement, which he reportedly holds as his guiding principle: “One may make mistakes, but one must not lie!”
The Telegram channel Военный Осведомитель (Military Informer), which has about 600,000 followers, reacted to the news of Beloussov’s appointment as Defence Minister with: “An unexpected candidate for a long-awaited dismissal.” It added: “As Sergei Shoigu is sent away from the position of Defence Minister, which he has consistently held for the past 11 and a half years, there is much to say, but let’s state the main point – Shoigu failed to pass the most important test of his life, which was the special operation in Ukraine (this is how Russian authorities refer to the war with Ukraine).
We should now expect significant administrative changes in the structure of the Ministry of Defence, with many old figures leaving and new ones emerging.”
“We should now expect significant administrative changes in the structure of the Ministry of Defence, with many old figures leaving and new ones emerging.”
Another Russian war blogger, Alexei Zhivov, from the Telegram channel ЖИВОВ Z with about 73,000 followers, believes that Shoigu’s departure gives the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, the opportunity to assume the role of the country’s top military officer (unlike Shoigu, the new Defence Minister Belousov does not wear a uniform).
Gerasimov may gain more freedom
“We are in the midst of an offensive planned by Gerasimov. Additionally, Gerasimov will face the new minister and his team after Shoigu’s departure, meaning he will have to prove himself again.”
Zhivov added: “Gentlemen officers, Beloussov will genuinely begin rearming the army and eliminating the bureaucracy that you hate. The Chief of the General Staff will be issuing the orders, with the entire military component under his control.”
Bloggers have also noted that Shoigu was removed from the Ministry of Defence shortly after his close subordinate, Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, was arrested on suspicion of taking particularly large bribes. Following Shoigu’s replacement, the head of personnel at the Ministry of Defence, Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, was also arrested on bribery charges. During a search of Kuznetsov’s home, gold coins, about 100 million rubles in cash, and other items were found.
“By all accounts, an active purge of the defence department has begun,” wrote the aforementioned Telegram channel Rybar on May 13, noting that in addition to his role as head of personnel, Kuznetsov also served as head of the state secrets protection service in the ministry.
“It is possible that in the future, criminal cases will be opened not only against Timur Ivanov for his services to the homeland but also against some other effective administrators of the Ministry of Defence who are still working in the structure,” predicted the Telegram channel Военный Осведомитель on May 12.