Vladimir putin He has never been one to make radical changes to his top team. Those who violate his rules can find themselves in jail, or being blown out of the sky. But Russia’s dictator usually prefers to keep loyalists close, keep an eye on them and reward them. The news of the sacking of Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister for 12 years, in the middle of the war shocked people. Replacing him with Andrei Belousov, a technocrat with no direct connection to the security bloc before, was even more unexpected.

When all the cards were revealed, Putin seemed to play his way, and eventually offered the conscientious Shoigu an easy landing as Secretary of the National Security Council. The fate of Nikolai Patrushev, one of his most trusted aides and a staunch nationalist ideologue, is still unclear. Despite their appalling performance in 2022, the heads of Russian intelligence agencies who have run the country, including Alexander Bortnikov, still remain in their posts. fsb security Service For 16 years, it will remain the same.