I’m glad you specified Russia’s Putin, so I know it’s not one of those other Putins.

Shoigu is being replaced by Belousov, an economist. Shoigu was planning to retire before the invasion of Ukraine anyway, but this reflects either a dire need for an economics expert or a lack of need for someone with conflict experience.

Given Russia’s recent successes in the Kharkov region, it’s looking like Putin has already assumed that victory is inevitable and is planning for how to manage the post-war economy given the rapid expansion of Russia’s military-industrial complex over the course of the Ukraine conflict.

That, or Putin is unhappy with Shoigu’s progress… But again, looking at recent successes in the Kharkov region I highly doubt that.

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