Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is no longer a favorite of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports the independent Russian investigative platform iStories. It is reported that the head of the Kremlin has started direct consultations with the military commands that are directly responsible for the hostilities in Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu turned out to be a favorite of Vladimir Putin, they rested together and talked for a long time.

Apparently, the Kremlin claimed that it was about building new cities in Siberia, but investigative journalists suspect that they actually planned to prepare the military for a quick conquest of Ukraine.

Sources in the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces told iSories that after the failure of the blitzkrieg strategy, which envisaged the conquest of Ukraine in a very short period of time, the head of the Kremlin lost confidence in Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kiev, Putin allegedly tried to personally transfer the army, but refused, and now, picking over Shoigu’s head, consults directly with military commanders participating in hostilities, although Shoigu is obviously the head of the Russian army.

Russian investigative journalists point out that the FSB not only misinformed Putin about the situation in Ukraine before the war, but Shoigu allegedly promised Putin to conquer Ukraine with the military under contract, without general mobilization and in the shortest possible time.

But the Russians failed to capture Kyiv and were forced to retreat, referring to the “good will” of the Russian leadership.

Putin also publicly cast Shoigu in a bad light

iStories sources say that Putin learned about the real situation in Ukraine regarding the “special military operation” he launched on February 24, when the matter could no longer be hushed up, and began consulting directly with his generals, who have experience in Syria and other hot spots.

In early July, Putin publicly shamed Shoigu, suggesting he didn’t really need his information, saying that Colonel General Oleksandr Pavlovich Lapin, commander of the Central Group of Forces during the invasion of Ukraine, and Army General Serhii Volodymyrovych Surovykin, commander of the Southern Group of Forces, he was already informed about the progress of the “military special operation”.

However, it is not known what else Shoigu’s role is, and sources close to the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces also report that decisions on some key appointments in the Russian Ministry of Defense are already being made without taking into account his opinion.

An example of this is the appointment of Colonel-General Mykhailo Teplinskyi as commander of the Airborne Forces in June of this year, to whom Shoigu was hostile after he dared to disagree with the minister in a meeting.

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What is the situation in the Russian army

Army officials, quoted by investigative journalists, say that there is a dire shortage of soldiers and officers at the front, which is why they are now moving slowly.

According to estimates by iStories, Russian forces number about 150-180 thousand soldiers and officers, while Ukraine had 250 thousand at the beginning of the invasion, mobilizing up to 700 thousand soldiers.

The number of Russian forces is small for a quick conquest, and due to the slow advance, the war could drag on for a year or two.

Despite the difficulties caused by insufficient numbers, Putin opposes general mobilization, which has been criticized by the military leadership, which tries to compensate for the shortage of personnel in various ways: a ban on army discharges, the involvement of the Wagner group and recruitment. prisoners to fight in the war.

Shoigu is afraid to raise the question of mobilization in front of Putin, so as not to remind him of the failure of the rapid conquest of Kyiv, and the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation and his associates would pay good money for materials in the media to present the need for mobilization, hoping that the Kremlin leader would welcome this opportunity , but so far they do not have the expected result.

Also, in the Russian media, there is a battle between the FSB and the Russian military, who accuse each other of disinformation about Putin, which led to the failure of the “special forces operation”.

iStories sources say that Russian intelligence services and the Russian military have gathered information for dozens of criminal cases, but are waiting for the right moment to open them, so as not to demoralize Russian troops at the front.

It is likely that Shoigu will remain at the head of the Russian army for the time being, because Vladimir Putin does not want to change at a delicate moment, iStories investigative journalists conclude.

Russian investigative news platform iStories was declared a “foreign agent” by Russia in 2021.

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