Russia: Vladimir Putin continues to purge the Ministry of Defense and appoints his cousin as deputy minister

A new close friend of Vladimir Putin has been promoted to a responsible position. The Russian president on Monday appointed twelve new deputy defense ministers, including a cousin, in the midst of a purge of generals and officials arrested for corruption following the departure of the historic Sergei Shoigu.

The first wave of changes occurred in mid-May, when the head of the Kremlin, a few days after his inauguration for a fifth term, replaced Sergei Shoigu, who had been in power since 2012, with Andrei Belousov, an economist with no military experience. Vladimir Putin justified these unexpected ministerial changes as the need to “optimize” military spending, which has increased sharply to meet the needs of the army in Ukraine. Since then, at least five generals and officials, including relatives of the former minister, have been arrested for corruption, illustrating the growing power of technocrats in the Kremlin’s military apparatus.

Under the blow of European sanctions

Among the twelve deputy ministers appointed by presidential decree on Monday is Anna Tsivileva, Vladimir Putin’s cousin, who is under European and British sanctions. However, the relationship has not been officially confirmed in Russia.

Before that, she headed the important Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, created in 2023 by the Russian President, whose official goal is to “provide individual social support to veterans” of the conflict in Ukraine and “families of soldiers.” who died or died as a result of their injuries.” According to the Ministry of Defense, in particular, Anna Tsiviliova will be responsible for all issues related to social assistance to military personnel and their housing.

Also on the list is the name of Pavel Fradkov, the son of former Prime Minister (2004-2007) and director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) in 2007-2016, Mikhail Fradkov. He will oversee the army’s construction sector. His predecessor in this post was arrested for corruption. According to the decrees, former Finance Ministry official Leonid Gornin was also appointed first deputy defense minister, dismissing four former vice ministers.

Endemic corruption

Corruption in the highest echelons of the Russian military, endemic since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, was one of the criticisms loudly articulated by the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in the wake of Russia’s failed uprising in June. 2023 and died in a plane crash two months later. The Kremlin, for its part, has in recent weeks rejected any idea of ​​a purge, arguing that it was a fairly classic anti-corruption operation.

Since coming to power almost a quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin has surrounded himself with many close friends, mainly from his time in the KGB and then from his years working in the St. Petersburg mayor’s office in the 1990s. children. his relatives were appointed to high positions.