Putin appoints Shoigu as Secretary of the Russian Security Council and nominates Belousov as Defense Minister

Russian President Putin has signed a presidential decree appointing former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

On May 12th local time, the Russian President’s website announced that President Putin has signed a presidential decree appointing former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

Putin also signed a presidential decree on the same day, dismissing Nikolai Patrushchev from his position as Secretary of the Security Council and appointing him.

According to the news released by the Russian Federal Council (Upper House of Parliament) on social media on the evening of the 12th, Putin nominated Andrei Belousov, who had previously served as the First Deputy Prime Minister, as the Minister of Defense of Russia. He nominated Sergei Lavrov to remain as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Nareshkin to remain as the Director of the External Intelligence Agency, Alexander Kurenkov to remain as the Minister of Emergency Situations, Vladimir Kolokolitsev to remain as the Minister of Internal Affairs, Konstantin Trichenko to remain as the Minister of Justice, Alexander Bortnikov to remain as the Director of the Federal Security Agency, and Viktor Zolotov to remain as the Commander in Chief of the National Guard. In addition, Valery Grassimov remains in the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Andrei Belousov was born in Moscow in 1959 and has served as Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, and First Deputy Prime Minister.

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov stated that Shoigu will be responsible for managing the relevant affairs of the Russian Federation Military Technical Cooperation Agency, and he will also serve as the Vice Chairman of the Russian Military Industry Commission.

According to TASS, the Russian Federal Council needs to review the relevant nominations within a week and report the review results to Putin. If there are no objections, Putin will sign a presidential decree appointing relevant personnel.

Putin was sworn in at the Kremlin on the 7th, beginning his fifth presidential term. He officially appointed Mishusky as the new Prime Minister of the government on the 10th. Putin signed an order on the 11th to approve the new government structure proposal submitted by Mishusky. According to the law, Mishusky will then submit a proposal for a new government minister to the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), which will be approved by the Duma and appointed by the Russian President. The heads of the Ministry of Defense, Federal Security Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Emergency Situations, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be appointed by the President after consultation with the Federal Council.