Sergei Shoigu

May 22, 2024 5:46 PM

Russia denies U.S. charge that it put anti-satellite weapon in space

Russia's top arms control diplomat dismissed as "fake news" on Wednesday an assertion by the United States that Russia had launched a weapon into low-Earth orbit that was capable of inspecting and attacking other satellites. The Kremlin has flatly denied assertions by U.S. officials that Moscow is developing a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon. U.S. Space Command on Tuesday pointed to the launch earlier this month of a Soyuz rocket from Russia's Plesetsk launch site, saying it likely i...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 23: (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks as Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) looks on while taking part in the wreath laying ceremony at the Unknown Soldier Tomb, marking the Defender of the Fatherland's Day, on February 23, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Putin is candidate for the 2024 Presidential Elections. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)

May 13, 2024 11:42 AM

Putin removes long-term ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin tapped a civilian economist as his surprise new defence minister on Sunday in an attempt to gird Russia for economic war by trying to better utilise the defence budget and harness greater innovation to win in Ukraine. More than two years into the conflict, which has cost both sides heavy casualties, Putin proposed Andrei Belousov, a 65-year-old former deputy prime minister who specialises in economics, to replace his long-term ally, Sergei Shoigu, 68, as defenc...

April 24, 2024 3:02 PM

Russia detains deputy of defence minister Shoigu for corruption

Russian security services detained one of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu's deputies on suspicion of taking major bribes, the highest-profile corruption case since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was detained on Tuesday, according to a brief 22-word statement by Russia's investigative committee. The statute that the investigators cited for his detention is for accepting bribes "on a particularly large scale". He faces 15 y...