Russian President Vladimir Putin had just signed a presidential decree appointing former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, when a lieutenant general of the Russian army was dragged out of bed by members of the security services and forced to be interrogated.
The recent personnel changes in Russian politics have attracted the attention of various countries, but what is the connection between these events?
The content of this article is written with authoritative information combined with personal opinions, and the source of the literature and screenshots have been marked at the end of the article, please be aware.
1. The Russian and Chinese generals were arrested in their sleep
On May 21, the website of the Russian president announced that Shoigu left his post as defense minister and was officially appointed secret secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
As soon as this news was released, everyone speculated whether Shoigu was up or down.
After taking office, Putin seems to have made large-scale adjustments to the leadership team, the biggest highlight of which is Shoigu's departure and stay and the various events that have occurred before.
First of all, before the great change in Russian politics, Ivanov, as Shoigu's hardcore confidant, was taken down by Putin on the charge of embezzlement. At that time, it was rumored that Putin wanted to rectify the military, but because Shoigu was a veteran of the Russian party, he could not easily shake it, so he postponed the matter.
It is worth mentioning that despite the fact that Shoigu's current secretary of the Security Council is a very important post in Russia, it is somewhat overkill for himself.
What's more, Russia is still in the midst of a war in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and it is not wise to change generals when the war is tight, and Putin's actions make people suspect that he seems to have other arrangements. As a result, shortly after this incident, a Russian lieutenant general - Lieutenant General Kuznetsov, head of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense, was arrested.
It is said that at 5 a.m. on the 13th, the security forces used a crowbar to break through the door and window of the lieutenant general's house, and they broke into the general's bedroom wearing face masks, while the lieutenant general was still asleep in bed with his wife beside him.
The person came to his senses immediately after being "woken up", and left with the visitor without saying a word.
Of course, in the follow-up investigation, the relevant Russian departments did not disclose the specific crime committed by the lieutenant general, and only declared that he was "suspected of a crime".
There is a lot of talk among the Russians, and many people claim the grapevine: in fact, Ivanov was taken away not so long ago because of corruption, but because of treason, and Lieutenant General Kuznetzo is no different.
But if these two officials are being censored by the security services for "treason", how many people in Russian politics have not been infiltrated? And what does Shoigu's appointment and departure say? Will these events have an impact on Putin?
Second, there have been successive changes within the Ministry of National Defense
Although there are many opinions within Russia, everyone basically believes that these things should be inseparable from Putin's direct instructions. After all, on the first day of Shoigu's departure abroad, his cronies were arrested, which made many people feel that there had been a big change in Russian politics.
Sure enough, standing in his own position as defense minister, he became a secretary of the Federal Security Council - even if this is a position of Putin's cronies, but compared to the defense minister, this position is less powerful, and Shoigu's new appointment is bound to be limited by the power of the old leaders.
And it is impossible for these Putin not to know, in this case, why did he have such an arrangement? Is it to break the old shackles of interests and reorganize their own team?
The departure of Lieutenant General Kuznev has drawn the attention of many to the new Minister of Defense Belousov. The fact that Lousov became defense minister is puzzling – because he never had any experience in the military.
For a fighting nation, it is a great taboo for civilian officials to take charge of the army, which is very disadvantageous to Russia, so many people believe that the departure of Shoigu and the return of civilian officials to power are very likely to mean that there are major problems in Russia's military administration.
After all, there are many generals in the Russian military, why is the top of the Russian military who is the Minister of Defense such a civilian official who has not had a military career for a day?
3. Putin reorganized the leadership of the Ministry of National Defense
According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Kuznetsov's detention is closely linked to the change of the Minister of Defense.
Perhaps Putin's replacement is to reorganize the Russian Ministry of Defense, after all, in the fierce development of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia's performance is not satisfactory - excessive military spending, poor performance on the front, and complaints from the public, so the officer's opening is most likely a prelude to the reorganization of the leadership team.
It has also been suggested that the fall of the lieutenant general is the same as the previous ouster of Ivanov - they are all arranging for the newly appointed senior officials.
Putin will inevitably reshuffle the cards after taking office and deconstruct the entire Ministry of Defense clearly, and the Kremlin needs to give an account to the people and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In addition, everyone believes that Putin still has high hopes for Shoigu. At present, Russia's top leader is Putin, the second in command is Medvedev, and the third in command is Shoigu, who is the secretary, and he can give Putin suggestions and proposals from time to time.
Therefore, it is very likely that Putin will transfer him from the post of defense minister to have other arrangements for him, but in any case, Putin's reassembling of his team is already an ironclad matter, and even if the lieutenant general is still asleep, he must immediately "act".
Resources:
Former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was appointed secretary of the Russian Security Council-Xinhua News Agency 2024-05-13 04:33
Director of the Main Directorate of Cadres of the Russian Ministry of Defense, arrested——Beijing News 2024-05-14 17:17
The arrest of the Russian deputy defense minister has caused an uproar in public opinion, and many details beyond the "bribery case" are hotly discussed by all parties——The Paper 2024-04-26 19:22
He has led the work of state secrets for 13 years! The head of the General Directorate of Cadres of the Russian Ministry of Defense was arrested-Luzhong Morning Post 2024-05-14 19:54
Bureau of International Knowledge: Putin's big move! "Civilian" is the Minister of Defense, what is the significance of these changes? ——China News Network 2024-05-13 15:25