Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has not appeared in public since March 11, meaning he was not seen for 12 of the 28 days of the war in Ukraine. Russian investigative journalists from Mediazone and Agentstvo note that one of Vladimir Putin’s closest men is usually very active in the media: with his arrival at the Ministry of Defense, the press service staff has increased significantly, and the agency has begun to pay scant attention on his public image.
Agenstvo reports that Shoigu was in the news almost every day until March 11th. Then nothing. Rumors are circulating around Shoigu that he is unhealthy and has heart problems. In particular, a personal acquaintance of the minister specifies that Shoigu was present on March 18 at the meeting where Putin and permanent members of the Security Council discussed “the progress of the special operation in Ukraine.”
The latest news in Schoigu’s profile on the Department of Defense website is also from March 11. Within Ukrainian intelligence, it was believed that the only people in positions of power in Russia who supported the war in Ukraine were Putin and Shoigu. But that’s not all. According to Russian investigators, Shoigu is not the only person who has vanished into thin air, at least from the public’s point of view. In fact, no events in which the Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov took part have been reported since March 11.
