Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin's fifth presidential term began with the removal of his longtime ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister in the most significant rejig in the country's military command since the beginning of war in Ukraine in February 2022.

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Shoigu will now head Russia's powerful security council, an autonomous element of the wider Russian presidential administration that acts as the the central body for managing the formulation and execution of security-related policies. While the rejig places Shoigu in a position formally considered higher ranking than his role in the defence ministry, shifting Shoigu to National Security Council chairman could be viewed as a demotion.

Shoigu's future remained the subject of intense speculation in and beyond Moscow's corridors of power since Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded his dismissal when launching the dramatic but short-lived mutiny. Prigozhin, who was killed in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023, had accused Shoigu of incompetence and having no regard for the lives of Wagner troops.

Shoigu's claim to fame

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Shoigu's popularity grew in Russia after Moscow's forces annexed Crimea in 2014. At the helm of Russia's defences then, he was credited to have orchestrated the successful annexation of the region Russia claims as its own.

Also watch | Russia: Vladimir Putin appoints Sergei Shoigu as security council secretary

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Shoigu was also believed to have direct access to Vladimir Putin. He was often seen on regular hunting and fishing trips with Putin in Siberia. 

The Ukraine setback and Wagner debacle

Russia’s minister of defence since 2012, Shoigu is blamed by many critics inside the Russian military for failing to prepare the Russian Armed Forces for the war in Ukraine.

Also read | Loud and posh Wagner chief Prigozhin gets quiet and sombre funeral

Shoigu was tasked with modernising Russia's military and rooting out widespread corruption that plagued the military. But he came under intense criticism for Moscow's inability to overwhelm Ukrainian defences in the immediate weeks after Russia launched war on Ukraine. He was also blamed for failing to stop an armed uprising in June 2023 by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had called for his arrest after accusing him of discriminating between regular Russian armed forces and Wagner mercenaries.