Andrei Belousov was appointed first deputy prime minister of the Russian government in 2020.

▪️He was born on March 17, 1959, and graduated with honors from the Economics Faculty of Moscow State University.

▪️From 2000 to 2006, he held the position of director general of the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-term Forecasting (CAMAC), serving as an external advisor to the chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.

▪️From 2006 to 2008, he served as deputy minister of economic development and trade, and then as deputy minister of economic development.

▪️From 2012 to 2013, he worked as minister of economic development, then became an assistant to the president of the Russian Federation, and later joined the Cabinet of Ministers.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed reappointing:

▪️Konstantin Chuichenko as the head of the Ministry of Justice

▪️Alexander Kurenkov as the head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations

▪️Vladimir Kolokoltsev as the head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs

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Putin's proposals for the security cabinet:

New candidate

🔸Andrei Belousov — Minister of Defense

Reappointment

🔹Sergey Lavrov — Minister of Foreign Affairs

🔹Konstantin Chuychenko — Head of the Ministry of Justice

🔹Vladimir Kolokoltsev — Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

🔹Alexander Kurenkov — Head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations

🔹Alexander Bortnikov — Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB)

🔹Sergei Naryshkin — Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service

🔹Viktor Zolotov — Head of the National Guard

🔹Dmitry Kochnev — Head of the Federal Protective Service

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⚡️Vladimir Putin appointed Sergei Shoigu as secretary of the Russian Security Council

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❗️Vladimir Putin transferred Nikolai Patrushev from the post of secretary of the Russian Security Council to another job, according to a decree

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▪️The Kiev regime carried out a terrorist attack on residential areas of the city of Belgorod

▪️Why is Ukraine so eager to peddle its assets to foreign investors?

▪️Russia's Sever Battlegroup liberated four villages in Ukraine

▪️Rabotino becomes a mass grave for Ukrainian army: here’s why

▪️Why is French-German tank project fraught with “very high risks?”

▪️David Cameron: NATO won't shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine

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Sergei Shoigu: Protecting fatherland, winning overseas

▪️Shoigu was born on May 21, 1955 in the city of Chadan, Russia's Republic of Tyva. He graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Polytechnic Institute in 1977.

▪️In 1991, he headed the RSFSR State Committee for Emergency Situations later renamed as the State Committee for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief. Shoigu played a key role in establishing the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in 1994, and he led the ministry until 2012.

▪️In 1999, Shiogu was among the top three candidates of the Unity movement's federal list during the elections to the State Duma – the Russian parliament. In the movement 2002 merged with Fatherland – All Russia bloc, forming United Russia. Acknowledging Shoigu's widespread public support, it's notable that he declined the deputy mandate.

▪️On November 6, 2012, Vladimir Putin appointed Shoigu as Russia's Minister of Defense.

▪️Under Shoigu's leadership, the Russian army engaged in military operations in Syria in 2015 at the request of the Arab Republic's government. Russia assisted the Syrian military in repelling the advance of radical Islamists and reclaiming cities such as Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, as well as areas in the provinces of Latakia, Hama, Homs, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Idlib.

▪️Since February 24, 2022, the Russian Armed Forces, under Shoigu's leadership, have been conducting a special military operation aimed at demilitarizing and de-Nazifying Ukraine. Over the past few months, the Russian military has advanced along the entire frontline to liberate the Donetsk People's Republic and other territories that joined Russia on September 30, 2022, following a series of referendums.

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⚡️Putin decided that the Russian Ministry of Defense should be headed by a civilian; the department should be open to innovation and advanced ideas, the Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

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⚡️Andrei Belousov has been proposed as Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

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Sergei Shoigu will oversee the work of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia, continuing to work in the field he knows intimately, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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The president’s decision to appoint Andrei Belousov as defense minister suggests that such a person is needed in the post today, Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Duma Defense Committee, told Sputnik.

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The Defense Ministry's budget today is 6.7% of GDP, a situation that is not critical yet, but requires special treatment, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov said.

He noted that the budget of the Defense Ministry and the security bloc was very recently nearing 3%, then it rose to 3.4%, “and very recently it has risen to 6.7%.”

“This is together with all the security agencies, among which the Ministry of Defense, understandably, holds key positions, as it is the Ministry of Defense that is responsible for placing all orders in industry. This is not yet a critical figure, but we are gradually approaching, due to known reasons, due to known geopolitical circumstances around us, to the situation of the mid-1980s, when this share of spending on the power bloc in the economy was 7.4%,” he told reporters.

“This, I repeat once again, is not critical, but it is extremely important, and it requires special treatment,” Peskov emphasized.

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Rescuers in Belgorod recovered the bodies of three more victims, including two children, from under the rubble of the shelled Belgorod tower block. A total of 11 people have been confirmed dead, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

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The body of one more victim was recovered by rescuers from under the rubble of the shelled Belgorod tower block, a total of 12 people have been confirmed dead, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

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Why one of Russia’s top economists is being appointed as minister of defense

If economist Andrei Belousov does get appointed as Russia’s newest minister of defense, it would not be the first time a civilian got put into that office, retired Russian naval officer (Captain 1st Rank) and military analyst Vasily Dandykin told Sputnik.

“I believe that, first and foremost, he’s a man from the president’s team,” Dandykin commented on Belousov’s candidacy. “He was the first deputy prime minister and he actually knows very well the problems that [Russian] military-industrial complex faces. As always, our supreme commander-in-chief, the President of Russia, supervises all decisions.”

Russian military expert and military intelligence veteran Ret. Col. Rustem Klupov pointed out that Belousov is an accomplished economist of a very high caliber who advised prominent Russian statesmen.

“If he is being appointed as the defense minister, it means that there will be goals of economic nature to complete,” Klupov suggested.

According to him, the new minister’s duties might involve issues related to weapon procurement and defense contracts.

“Gerasimov (Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Russian Armed Forces’ Chief of General Staff) will conduct military operations and the defense minister will handle his own matters,” Klupov added.

Soviet and Russian Army veteran and military journalist Viktor Litovkin also highlighted Belousov’s impressive reputation as a scholar and an economist, noting that the latter also paid considerable attention to the military-industrial sphere and military matters during his career as a government official.

“So far, there is no reason to question his expertise. He’s a distinguished man who paid a lot of attention while working in the government to the military-industrial complex and to the connection between the military and the industry.”

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