The Shoigu Clan Falls

In late-breaking news, Nikolai Patrushev has been appointed Vladimir Putin’s assistant. He is a hawk. His son is now Deputy PM. They are both former KGB and were part of the St Petersburg Osera cooperative. Things are going to get more interesting. Perhaps we are watching the beginning of the end of one Vladimir Putin.

This channel thinks the end of the Shoigu clan maybe that big. I am somewhat agnostic on the big-picture level. Nikolai becoming Putin’s aid while his son becomes deputy PM may be incredibly consequential, though:

⚡️ Shoigu’s resignation will divide Russia into BEFORE and AFTER

Such a sudden reshuffle in the top military leadership means only one thing: in the coming months, the most radical measures will be taken to end the protracted conflict.

I’m sharing because it echoes my thoughts, but time will tell.

So with no further…

We knew of at least one general who enriched himself while working at the Ministry of Defense. What we are watching is a clan purge. Russia is a patronage society; with Shoigu gone, his people are now paying the price. Granted, they started to build towards this with the arrest of Timur Ivanov. See the screenshot below for an example of some of the secret stuff he shared with people without clearance.