Putin shakes up the cabinet, taps Belousov for defence in a major reshuffle

Vladimir Putin has proposed appointing Andrey Belousov as the Minister of Defense, who is set to replace Sergei Shoigu, as announced by the official Telegram channel of the Russian Federation Council.

"The Federation Council has received the list of candidates proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the positions of heads of a number of federal ministries and agencies,” reported the Federation Council's official channel.

For Minister of National Defense, Vladimir Putin has tapped Andrey Belousov to take over from Sergei Shoigu, the current defence department head.

Belousov served as the first deputy prime minister in Mikhail Mishustin's previous government and temporarily acted as Prime Minister. Before that, he spent many years as Putin's economic advisor.

As stated by Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, Sergei Shoigu, will assume the role of Secretary of the Security Council, taking over from Nikolai Patrushev. In this position, Shoigu will also serve as Putin's deputy in the Russian Military-Industrial Commission.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs post will continue to be held by Sergei Lavrov without change.

Vladimir Kolokoltsev has been appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, with Aleksander Kurenkov taking up the role of Minister of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations. Konstantin Chuychenko has been designated as the Minister of Justice. Sergei Naryshkin will head the Foreign Intelligence Service, Aleksander Bortnikov will lead the Federal Security Service, and Boris Kovalchuk will chair the Accounts Chamber.

These proposed governmental changes follow Vladimir Putin's recent inauguration as President and Mikhail Mishustin's appointment as Prime Minister on May 10th.

The Federation Council will review these ministerial nominations in sessions on May 13th and 14th.