Russia’s war minister becomes a national hate figure

Berlin Sergei Shoigu and Vladimir Putin at a campfire in Siberia, Shoigu and Putin chasing tigers, as adventurers shirtless: they were best friends for years, and the Russian media had left no doubt about that for a long time. The stagings of the president with his secretary of defense were legendary, but that’s over now.

In the meantime, Shoigu’s warfare has been sharply criticized in the state-controlled media, more and more details about his most recent rounds of conscription are becoming public – and Putin is beginning to publicly condemn them.

The Kremlin boss is distancing himself from his former intimate because he has noticed how much the partial mobilization has annoyed the people. And because he knows that it is better for him if the collective hatred is directed at a minister – and not at himself.