The first wave of changes took place in mid-May, when the head of the Kremlin, a few days after his inauguration for a fifth term, replaced Mr. Shoigu, in office since 2012, with an economist without military experience, Andreï Belooussov.
Vladimir Putin had justified this surprise ministerial reshuffle by the need to “optimize” military spending, which has exploded to support the needs of the army in Ukraine.
Since then, at least five generals or officials, including relatives of the former minister, have been arrested for corruption, illustrating the rise in power of technocrats within the Kremlin’s military apparatus. Among the twelve deputy ministers appointed Monday by presidential decree, there is notably Anna Tsiviliova, a cousin of Vladimir Putin, under European and British sanctions. However, the relationship has not been officially confirmed in Russia.
She was until then at the head of the important Defenders of the Fatherland Fund, set up in 2023 by the Russian president, whose aim is officially “to provide personalized social support to veterans” of the conflict in Ukraine and “ to the families of soldiers who died or died as a result of their injuries.” Ms. Tsiviliova will notably be responsible for all issues relating to social assistance for military personnel and their housing, according to the Ministry of Defense.
Also in the list appears the name of Pavel Fradkov, son of the former Prime Minister (2004-2007) and director of the foreign intelligence services (SVR) between 2007 and 2016, Mikhail Fradkov. He will be in charge of the construction sector for the army. His predecessor in this position was arrested for corruption.
Classic anti-corruption operation
A former finance ministry official, Leonide Gornin, was also named first deputy defense minister, ousting four former vice ministers, according to the decrees.
Corruption within the upper echelons of the Russian army, endemic since the fall of the USSR in 1991, was one of the criticisms loudly formulated by the boss of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, at the origin of a aborted rebellion in Russia in June 2023 and died in a plane crash two months later.
The Kremlin, for its part, has rejected any idea of a purge in recent weeks, ensuring that it was a fairly classic anti-corruption operation.
