Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev as First Deputy Chairman of the Military Industry Committee, Ria Novosti reports.

“Vladimir Putin made changes to the composition of the Military-Industrial Commission. The president introduced the post of first vice president, and it was taken over by the vice president of the Security Council, Dmytro Medvedev.”

Putin also included the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Oleksandr Kurenkov in the commission and excluded the former head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Artemiev from it.

The commission also included Minister of Defense Serhiy Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov, Secretary of the Security Council Mykola Patrushev, heads of the Foreign Intelligence Service, FSB, National Guard and others, Ukrainian Pravda reports.

The Military-Industrial Commission is a permanent body created to organize state policy in the field of the military-industrial complex, military-technical support for defense, national security and law enforcement activities. The commission is headed by President Vladimir Putin.

As follows from the decree, the first deputy will have the right to independently conduct the meeting of the body instead of the president.

At the beginning of December, Medvedev boasted that Moscow was increasing the production of new powerful weapons, as it allegedly opposes not only Ukraine, but also many Western states.

He said today that his country’s nuclear arsenal and Moscow’s rules on its use are the only factors preventing the West from going to war against Russia.

He recently threatened that NATO could become a “legitimate target” if it supplied Ukraine with Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems: “If, as Jens Stoltenberg hinted, NATO supplies the fanatics in Kyiv with the Patriot defense system, as well as alliance personnel, they will immediately become legitimate targets for of our armed forces”.

Dmytro Medvedev, who during his tenure as president of the Russian Federation (2008-2012) presented himself as a liberal modernizer, is now one of the most ardent supporters of the war in Ukraine. He regularly denounces the West, which he accuses of wanting to divide Russia in favor of Ukraine.