[Tee tiong huat]

A week after Russian Putin dismissed longtime defense minister Sergei Shoigu, Tuesday, he gave axe to deputy defense minister. Putin replaced Col. Gen. Yuriy Sadovenko with Oleg Savelyev, an accountant. Sadovenko, 52, who was born in Zhytomyr, then Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine, was a decorated combat veteran who graduated from Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. He has been replaced with an administrator who served most recently as an auditor for the Federation Council.
@Kyivpost_official.
This shift from a military officer to a business-minded accountant mirrors Putin’s move to replace Shoigu with an economist with no military experience, Andrey Belousov.

Analysts from Institute for the Study of War (ISW) observed: “Savelyev’s appointment is consistent with Kremlin’s effort to improve the wartime economy, given that Savelyev has an extensive background in economics, has experience in overseeing audits of defense, national security, and law enforcement activities.”

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The think-tank added Russian bloggers have noted that Belousov is beginning to form his team within the ministry. Also this week, Putin also fired presidential advisor Alexandra Levitskaya. ISW said the reasons for this move were “unclear.”
In an inaugural speech last week, Belousov described his plans for “optimization” of military budgets, so that “every ruble... will have a maximum effect.”