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Russian Defence Minister Back in the Picture

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu has reappeared after 12 days. On Thursday, he was seen as one of those present at President Vladimir Putin’s security council.

 

Shoygu, 66, disappeared from the media earlier this month, fueling rumours that something may be wrong with him or his relationship with Putin. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Shoygu has “a lot on his plate because the military operation is underway”. Therefore, it is understandable that he does not have time for the media, according to the spokesperson.

Shoigu is one of Putin’s confidants and has made a career in the state apparatus since he arrived in Moscow in 1990. He comes from a Siberian region 3500 kilometres from the capital, where he became an engineer and a member of the communist party. His mother was born in Ukraine.

In the 1990s in Moscow, he was chief of the organization that dealt with emergencies, minister of emergencies and briefly governor of the Moscow region. Putin appointed him as defence minister in 2012.

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