Vladimir Putin dismissed Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu because he wants to make this war more effective, said the former ministers of defense of the Republic of Moldova Vitalie Marinuța and Anatol Șalaru. According to them, Russia’s new defense chief Andrei Belousov, is an economist by profession, whose task will be to transform the economy of the Russian Federation into a war economy.
The replacement at the Russian Ministry of Defense took by surprise, said former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova Vitalie Marinuța. According to him, Sergei Shoigu didn’t enjoy authority among Russia’s military elites and Putin decided to replace him with another docile ally, Andrei Belousov.
“The pawns were changed, but the same figures remained in the security and defense complex of the Russian Federation. We see that in the last 10-15 years, Putin appointed civilians - Serdyukov, Shoigu - to head the Ministry of Defense. Shoigu wears the uniform of general, but when he was appointed he had neither education nor military experience. This created problems among the military leadership. Valery Gerasimov (chief of Russia’s General Staff, e.n.) is a career soldier and has clashed with Shoigu over the past year. By doing this change, by bringing a purely civilian to the head of the ministry, the strategic and operational implementation of battlefield activities is practically handed over to the military. It is maintained the tradition - civilian, devoted to Putin, statist, Orthodox. Thus, Putin creates his vertical of power for the next six years,” Vitalie Marinuța stated in the talk show “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
In the same connection, expert Vlad Kulminschi and former Minister of Defense Anatol Șalaru said that Putin is preparing for a long war and the mission of the new defense chief is to transform the Russian economy into a war economy.
“The Russian Federation is preparing for a war of attrition. The war of attrition is a war in which the side that has more military, economic, human capabilities prevails. The newly appointed Minister of Defense is a manager, an economist, and his task is to transform the economy of the Russian Federation into a war economy that will be ready for this war of attrition, the purpose of which is to gain access to the Black Sea. The Russian Federation wants to turn the Black Sea into a Russian lake,” said Vlad Kulminschi, executive director of the Institute for Strategic Initiatives.
“Șoigu, together with Medvedev, will post on Facebook. That will be his mission. There is no question of Russia harboring any danger to Putin’s power internally. Shoigu was removed in Putin’s style. Putin doesn’t arrest his people, he doesn’t put them in jail, unless he betrays them and there’s a deadly hatred for them. Putin is preparing for a long war and wants to make this war more effective. The West will win the war with Russia only when Russia is drained of resources,” said former Defense Anatol Șalaru.
