This was stated by Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR), in an interview with Ukrinform, commenting on the situation within Russia’s leadership.
"Nothing has changed. The only thing is that Shoigu's role has shrunk significantly. This is the only thing, despite the fact that Patrushev's role hasn’t changed much. So this is an interesting thing… The position of National Security and Defense Secretary s a key position in Russia. But the question is what Shoigu was restricted to in that position," he said.
Speaking about Nikolai Patrushev’s appointment as an assistant to the Russian president instead of his previous position as Security Council secretary, Budanov noted:
"And you know what? An interesting thing is that Patrushev's office is now located in the Kremlin. And previously, he worked at a different address. I'm saying, everything isn’t as simple as it might seems at first glance. Changes are overdue, they did what they did. But Shoigu did not become another Patrushev. He can’t even appoint his own deputies."
As reported by Ukrinform, Sergey Shoigu served as Russia’s defense minister from 2012 until May 2024, after which he was appointed Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
Andrey Belousov has taken over as Russia’s new defense minister.
Meanwhile, former Security Council Secretary Patrushev has become an aide to Vladimir Putin.
In June 2024, the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Shoigu and Russia’s Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Both are suspected of war crimes, including attacks on civilian infrastructure, causing excessive incidental harm to civilians and civilian objects, and crimes against humanity.
