Sergei Shoigu reappears in public. Very loyal to the Russian Defense Minister Wladimir PutinShe returns to be seen in a video call by the “Tsar” to Security Council members. In the pictures published by the state agency Ria Novosti, we see the Russian President sitting at a desk and in front of him a screen to which several people are connected. Shoigu, in particular, appears in the upper left panel. In the past few days, rumors had spread about an alleged break between Putin and the minister, who did not appear publicly for around two weeks.
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Sergei Shoigu, the Russian minister who has been missing for 12 days due to “heart problems”. But it’s yellow: “Putin no longer trusts him”
Shoigu reappears during a phone call with Putin, but the pictures aren’t convincing
In response to these rumors, the Kremlin may have released images of this virtual meeting. But many remain suspicious. The Shoigu frame, according to many Western observers, appears different from the others: the images appear less fluid (compared to the other frames) and at a certain point the frame seems to merge in an unnatural way. Others even claim that Shoigu was not actually connected to this meeting and that the images belong to a video that was recorded and then retransmitted in a “loop”. Regardless of the veracity of these statements, it is undeniable that such a long absence from the Defense Secretary’s screens is at least unusual given the country’s state of war.
Shoigu’s entourage had previously spoken of general “heart problems” when explaining the minister’s few public appearances. The Kremlin said in other statements that the minister was too busy following operations in Ukraine to appear on TV. But his presence alongside Putin had never ceased before this hiatus. Today the return, with all the (justified) suspicions of those who look on from the outside.
Who is Sergei Shoigu?
The figure of Shoigus had gained in importance in recent years as a result of Moscow’s military successes in Crimea and Syria. And at least until shortly after February 24, despite his anomalous CV, he could count on a great audience in the Kremlin. Secretary of Defense since 2012, Shoigu, 66, had previously been Minister for Emergencies since the 1990s, a position that earned him a reputation as a problemsolver, decisionmaker and ubiquitous, with a presence well publicized by an army of people, built . He comes from Tuva, the small federal republic on the border with Mongolia, has a degree in engineering and has never been a soldier. But in addition to wearing a uniform, since he was Minister of Emergency Situations and transitioned to Defense, he forced staff officers to wear one and reintroduced the 1945 Soviet uniform known as the Victory Uniform.
He promoted the hitech revolution of defense, established the Cyber Operations Command, and brought together aerospace forces in the Aerospace Forces. The military successes in the 10s of the 2000s paved the way to ever higher appropriations. And the sanctions have brought the oligarchs closer to defense in an effort to build a new militaryindustrial complex. In recent years, billionaires losing capital due to Western measures have been offered lucrative deals in the sector. Shoigu, cochairman with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia’s united party in last September’s parliamentary elections, which often hunts alongside Putin in remote parts of the country, has been able to take advantage of the space opened up by the numerous flops by Russia’s secret services, the revealed in the operations to poison Sergei Skripal in Salisbury and against Navalny in Siberia are omissions that have completely changed the balance of power in Moscow.
“This campaign was defined from the start as an oldfashioned projection of military might.” By assigning such a crucial role to the military, “Putin has consolidated a sensational change in the security hierarchy in the last year: if at the beginning of his leadership the army was not involved in defining policy and was subordinate to the services “In recent years, they have armed forces has acquired a new meaning not only in relations with neighboring countries, but also in the definition of politics,” wrote two Russian analysts specializing in intelligence, Andrei soldov and Irina Borodan, recently in Foreign Affairs. denounces Shoigu’s lack of proper military training.
The minister’s latest messages ahead of his brief appearance today were last March 11, when he was on the phone with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar, according to the Defense Ministry, and then made his way to the Mandryka Central Military Hospital. of Moscow to present honors to soldiers who “distinguished themselves in the special military operation”. On the 18th, according to the Kremlin website, he attended a Security Council meeting chaired by Putin, of which no picture was published. That evening, Pervyi Kanal published pictures of the honoring of the soldiers, noting that the event is from that day, but the pictures are identical to those of the 11th. Journalists from Angentstvo (formerly Proekt), who questioned the Defense Ministry yesterday about the reason for the disappearance, were told the minister was unwell and had “heart problems”.