Shake-up in house of Mad Vlad

Russian President Vladimir Putin is replacing his embattled defense minister with a civilian economist in a bid to jump-start his brutal war with Ukraine, in the wake of the US approving billions of dollars in military aid for Kyiv.

Sergei Shoigu, 68, who has faced criticism over his handling of the 2-year-old invasion, has left the Ministry of Defense and is now taking a role on Russia’s national security council, which oversees both foreign and domestic security matters, the Kremlin said Sunday.

Putin proposed that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, 65, who previously served as an assistant to the Ministry of Economic Development, take the helm of defense, it said.

Despite having more than two decades of experience in government as an economics specialist and adviser, Belousov has no military experience, the Kremlin said.

“The Defense Ministry must be absolutely open to innovation, to introduce advanced ideas and to create conditions for economic competitiveness. That’s why the president chose the candidacy of Andrei Removich Belousov,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Belousov’s appointment must be approved by Russian lawmakers, who are little more than a rubber stamp for Putin.

The shake-up comes after a difficult year for Shoigu, who has faced mounting pressure over the stalemated war in Ukraine and last year’s short-lived Wagner mercenary uprising.

Shoigu also saw one of his deputies, Timur Ivanov, arrested last month for allegedly taking bribes, in the biggest corruption case since the war began.