The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
If you want to talk about today's Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, I am afraid that many people will be quite worthy of his well-known titles, such as "plywood general", "civil holy body", "master of budget allocation" and so on.
From the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, his crotch pulling operation can be said to have caused a lot of criticism and sarcasm, and many nicknames were also worn by many people at this time.
However, after 2 years of war, this "civil engineering brother" proved with his own strength: I can't fight a war, and you can't fight ashes. [Listen to the song]
01 Civil engineering brother
Born in 1955, Shoigu himself has a somewhat yellow face because his mother is Russian and his father is an ethnic Mongolian from the Republic of Tuva.
However, although he has now become Russia's Minister of Defense, in fact he is not a soldier, but an out-and-out "civil engineering brother".
In 1977, he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Krasnolsk Polytechnic Institute, and from then on he began his 10-year career in the field of architecture.
However, although he came from this industry, he quickly rose to managerial positions, and in 1988 he successfully entered politics, becoming the second-in-command of the city of Abagan, and in 1990 he became the deputy chairman of the Building Committee of the Russian Federation.
It was in this position that he became acquainted with Yeltsin and others, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was already reused, becoming chairman of the Federal Emergency Committee and later promoted to the post of minister.
In fact, by this time, Shoigu's identity had already begun to change, and the reason why he was chosen to manage these aspects of work was actually due to his own emergency and logistical capabilities.
He had already been involved in a lot of emergency relief work earlier, and even formed rescue teams, which is quite experienced, and at the same time, he had worked in construction for so many years, and he was also very good at rebuilding after the emergency, which became a huge help for his change of identity.
And in 2012, because former Russian Defense Minister Serdyukov was dismissed for being involved in a huge corruption case, Putin had to choose a new minister, and Shoigu, who had almost nothing to do with the army, took this position because he did not have so many interests involved.
02 Screwing master
As the Minister of Defense, Shoigu was actually not so easy, after all, most of the Russian military at that time was basically eating the legacy of the former Soviet Union, the warships and planes were old, the army was not equipped enough, etc., plus the case had just happened, so it was not a good errand.
However, it is precisely such a difficult situation that highlights Shoigu's ability even more, and his goal is simple: to use the least amount of money and hit the most "screws".
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, coupled with Yeltsin's shock therapy, Russia's overall GDP was not high, and military spending was even more pitiful, but during Shoigu's 10 years in office, Russia's equipment made a direct qualitative leap.
Russia's military spending in the past 10 years is basically less than one year of the United States, but it has produced more than 400 tanks and more than 300 new fighters, bringing the modern equipment rate of the Russian army from 15 percent to 70 percent, and the navy has even taken out dozens of different ships.
In the context of such developments, it is also necessary to maintain a nuclear arsenal of more than 6,000 units, ensure the supply of various light weapons to Russian soldiers, and re-produce former Soviet weapons, as well as the continued development of new weapons such as drones.
From here, you can feel that Shoigu's ability to "play screws" is indeed quite high, and what can better show his level is that now, that is, the two years of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
It can be said that in this contest between Russia and Ukraine, the opposite side of the card table is not only Ukraine, but includes all NATO countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, etc., all of which are changing their ways to aid Ukraine.
But as the war dragged on for longer and longer, it became clear that Russian weapons never seemed to be inexhaustible, and even missiles, such as missiles, had not been fully invested, thanks to Shoigu, a genius who "played screws".
Compared with the 800 billion military spending of the United States every year, there are still various kinds of arrears and complaints about the lack of budget, Shoigu can do such a step with Russia's military spending of less than 100 billion, and even keep a surplus, which can only be said to be "worthy of enjoying the temple".
And his abilities are far more than that, even if he became the Minister of Defense and began his own crazy path of "screwing", but he did not lose his skills in civil engineering.
For example, the Crimean bridge, which was damaged on October 8, 2022, is the longest bridge in Europe, and was attacked by the Ukrainian side at the beginning of the conflict, and directly damaged the bridge.
If according to the expectations of Europe and the United States, the damage to the bridge is quite serious, but it took only one month for the Russian side to announce the resumption of traffic on several routes, and then it was determined that it could be opened to traffic, and Putin also drove through the bridge himself for inspection.
Other severely damaged areas are also being repaired, and in less than a year, the highway part has been officially announced to be able to open to traffic, which is really stunned by Europe and the United States.
In addition, there are several cities or buildings in Udong that were bombed up, which can also be repaired quickly and immediately, and this is naturally inseparable from Shoigu, because many companies involved in the project are related to it.
This ability is still quite terrifying, after all, the two sides are fighting and their side has been blown into ruins, and that piece was quickly repaired, which makes the gap between the two sides bigger and bigger.
03 There are two sides of the contradiction
Although Shoigu's reputation is gradually improving, and even many people in Russia respect him very much, he himself has been criticized and insulted.
First of all, as the Minister of Defense, his military strategy level is really not very good, I believe everyone has seen the various situations in the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian war, at this time, Russia's military strength has made great progress, but it has still been forced to withdraw many times.
And then Prigozhin also pointed the finger at Shoigu and others, believing that their strategic level was too poor, resulting in many casualties, and the Russian people also believed that the defeat on the battlefield was his problem.
Therefore, from the perspective of the military level of a simple war, Shoigu is indeed not particularly high, but now that the Russian-Ukrainian war has developed into such a situation, the logistics aspect has become more and more important, and I am afraid that there are not many people in Russia who are more experienced than him in this regard.
Therefore, this "plywood" general has really achieved "I can't fight a war, and you can't fight ashes", and being able to "fight" a level on the battlefield in the rear may also be a special achievement that he himself can make.
Sources of information:
[1] Reference News - Reference Figures|Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu: A strong figure who has dominated the political arena for 30 years
[2] Phoenix TV - A "military admonition", the three generals of the Russian Ministry of Defense are in a storm