Turnaround in the Kremlin

This man is now supposed to win the war for Putin

Andrei Beloussov (left) will be responsible for military successes in Ukraine in future.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/AFP/SPUTNIK/Gavriil GRIGOROV)

After Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was unexpectedly dismissed on Sunday, the former deputy head of government and economist Andrei Beloussov is now to take over the post and set a new course in the war of aggression against Ukraine. This also includes granting Russian soldiers more privileges in future.

"It is unacceptable for participants in the special military operation to be expelled from medical facilities and sent to overcrowded hospitals when they are on leave and come home," announced Beloussov. Housing must also be made available to participants in the war. This is very important when, according to him, external enemies are supposedly surrounding the country and trying to curtail its sovereignty.

Andrei Beloussov(Bild: APA/AFP/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

The reason for Beloussov's closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to be precisely these ideological similarities between the two. The top civil servant, who is on his second marriage, is known for giving the state an overriding role in the economy and social life. He has more than once demanded special levies from the country's large corporations in order to cover the growing needs of the Russian budget. Beloussov speaks of Russia's traditional values and national interests.

Supporter of the annexation of Crimea
 In 2014, according to the independent portal The Bell, he was the only member of the economic and financial bloc among Russia's top officials to support the annexation of Crimea. Many others feared the financial consequences of Western sanctions at the time. As deputy head of government since 2020, Beloussov had a major influence on the economic sector, which he continued to expand through large-scale government spending. Since the start of the war, he has been on the EU and US sanctions lists as a Putin confidant. Putin now expects that, as an expert, he will be better able to manage the large amounts of state spending that flow into the arms sector than his predecessor Shoigu.

Putin and Shoigu on May 9 at the military parade on Red Square(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Beloussov's acquaintances describe him as an official who is a stranger to corruption. In fact, he was never involved in any investigations or scandals in this direction. His biography shows no "blemishes", notes the Russian opposition medium Medusa. Also, unlike many other representatives of the Kremlin, he has no real estate in Nice, yachts or foreign bank accounts.

Family background
Beloussov comes from a family of scientists in Moscow; his mother was a chemist and his father a well-known economist in the Soviet Union's planned economy. He himself also worked for years at an institute writing economic forecasts before being appointed to the government in 2006. Beloussov first became deputy minister of the economy and then head of the finance and economics department in the government apparatus. During this time, he gained the trust of the then head of government Vladimir Putin, whose close follower he has been ever since. After a brief interlude as Minister of the Economy, Beloussov quickly followed Putin into the Kremlin as an advisor in 2013.