Shoigu stays?
Putin announces changes in military leadership
06/27/2023, 6:40 p.m
Despite criticism from Wagner boss Prigozhin and military bloggers, Putin has so far stuck to Defense Minister Shoigu. But now the Kremlin chief is announcing personnel changes in the top military leadership. In the future, people with war experience should be at the top.
Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin has promised changes in the leadership of the Russian armed forces “in the near future”. In the future, the “backbone” of the armed forces leadership will be made up of people who have proven themselves in combat, he said at a meeting with soldiers, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. This also includes the Air Force.
The Kremlin chief did not comment on whether he is sticking with his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu has been criticized for months for the failure of the aggressive war against Ukraine and also had nothing to counter the uprising of Yevgeny Prigozhin – one of his greatest adversaries.
Shoigu took part in a meeting with the heads of the security services on Monday. In addition to Putin, the participants included the head of the FSB secret service Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the National Guard Viktor Solotov and the head of the Federal Protection Service Dmitry Kochnev. Observers noted that Shoigu was wearing a suit and not a uniform at the appointment, as is usual.
“Have fully funded this group”
In his speech to the soldiers, Putin also acknowledged for the first time that the Wagner army was entirely funded by the Russian state. “We fully funded this group,” Putin said. According to him, from May 2022 to May 2023 the group received a total of 86.26 billion rubles, the equivalent of around 930 million euros, from the state budget. Officially, the Wagner Army calls itself a private military company.
Putin also announced an investigation into cash flows at Wagner Army’s parent company, Concord Holding. Because while the Wagner troupe was fully financed by the state, Concord also earned 80 billion rubles. “I hope nobody stole anything or, let’s say, stole a little bit,” said the Kremlin chief.
The Wagner units of the mercenary chief Prigozhin were one of the most powerful and brutal troops in the Russian war of aggression that had been going on for 16 months. In addition to many ex-prisoners, highly professional mercenaries with extensive combat experience are deployed in the private army.