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The rearrangement in Kremlin high-level positions most likely suggest that Putin is taking significant measures to mobilize the Russian economy and defense industrial base to be able to wage a protracted war in Ukraine and be ready for a possibe confrontation with NATO.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reached this conclusion in its latest report.
“Belousov’s appointment to the position of Russian Defense Minister is a significant development in Putin’s efforts to set full economic conditions for a protracted war,” claims the report.
The report notes that Belousov has no military experience and is an economist, which is why some Russian insider sources responded to Belousov’s new position saying that it shows that Putin is concerned over corruption and misuse of funds in the Russian army.
According to Russian opposition outlets, citing an unnamed Russian federal official, Belousov will work in his new role to “competently organize work and logistics processes, ensure the necessary production and supplies, orient the economy towards the ‘special military operation,’ and squeeze the technological maximum out of the defense industry.”
ISW notes that Belousov is a known advocate for greater government involvement in the economy and “nearly decade-long tenure as an economic minister in the Russian federal government and his more recent involvement managing various domestic DIB innovation and drone projects, prepare him well to lead the struggling Russian MoD apparatus”. Belousov’s experience in the field of innovation, particularly in the drone sphere, is seen as valuable by the Kremlin.
“Belousov has a stronger reputation for being an effective technocrat, and insider sources have claimed that he has a positive relationship with Putin,” analysts claim.
On May 12, Vladimir Putin proposed appointing former First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as Defense Minister to replace Sergei Shoigu, who was the head of the Russian Defense Ministry since 2012.
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