In a surprise move, Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a political economist as his new defense minister in an effort to prepare Russia for economic warfare, better use the defense budget and use big innovations to win Ukraine.
Two years after a conflict that cost both sides heavy losses, Putin appointed Andrey Pelusov, a 65-year-old former deputy prime minister with an expertise in economics, to replace his longtime ally Sergei Shoigu, 68. Defense Minister
“The proposal to appoint one of the leading economists to head the Defense Ministry may be Putin’s plan to win the war with defense industries and international markets”
Putin wants Shoigu, who has been in charge of defense since 2012, to replace incumbent President Nikolai Patrushev as secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, also in charge of the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex.
Patrushev will find a new job that has yet to be announced.
The concrete changes to be approved by lawmakers are the most significant changes Putin has made to military command since sending tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
Like the Soviet Union
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the change made sense as Russia approaches a situation similar to that of the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, when the military and law enforcement accounted for 7.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
That, Peskov said, is vital to ensure spending is better aligned and integrated into the country’s economy as a whole, which is why Putin now wants a political economist for the post of defense minister.
“He who is most open to innovation will win on the battlefield,” Peskov said.
As CNBC points out, Pelozov, a former economy minister known to be close to Putin, shares the Russian leader’s vision of rebuilding a strong state and has worked with Putin’s top technologists, who are innovative and open to new ideas.
Pelozov was instrumental in overseeing the Russian drone program.
The move shows that Putin wants to escalate the controversy and tap the Russian economy for war after the West has so far failed to sink the economy.
Economic warfare
Despite the severe sanctions imposed on a large economy, Russian economists have so far achieved economic stability and growth.
“The proposal to appoint one of the leading economists as the head of the Ministry of Defense may suggest that Putin plans to win the war with the defense industry and international markets,” said Alexander Bounov, a former Russian diplomat. Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
The coup gives Shoigu a job considered technically superior to his role in the Ministry of Defense, ensuring continuity and saving Shoigu’s face. Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of the general staff and one of the most influential figures in directing the war, will be in place.
Shoigu was heavily criticized by Russian military bloggers. For a series of forced retreats by the Russian military in 2022. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenaries and one of Shoigu’s fiercest critics, led an unsuccessful rebellion that he hoped would bring down Shoigu. . Prigozhin was later killed in a plane crash.
Source: OT
