Putin taps economist as defence minister In unexpected move

Move meant to ensure defence spending aligned with country’s overall economy

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Russian President Vladimir Putin tapped a civilian economist as his surprise new defence minister on May 12 in an attempt to gird the country for economic war by trying to better utilise the defence budget and harness greater innovation to win in Ukraine.

More than two years into the conflict, which has cost both sides heavy casualties, Mr Putin proposed Mr Andrei Belousov, a 65year-old former deputy prime minister who specialises in economics, to replace Mr Sergei Shoigu, 68, as defence minister.

Mr Putin wants Mr Shoigu, defence minister since 2012 and a longstanding ally, to become the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, replacing incumbent Nikolai Patrushey, and to also have responsibilities for the military-industrial complex, the Kremlin announced on May 12.

Mr Patrushev will get a new, as yet unannounced, job. The changes, certain to be approved by parliamentarians, are the most significant Mr Putin has made to the military command since sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 in what he called a special military operation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the change made sense because Russia was approaching a situation like the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, when the military and law enforcement authorities accounted for 7.4 per cent of gross domestic product.

That, said Mr Peskov, meant it was vital to ensure such spending aligned with and was better integrated into the country’s overall economy, which was why Mr Putin now wanted a civilian economist to head the Defence Ministry.