Reshuffles in Moscow and Kyiv, 12 May 2024

What did the leadership changes in Moscow and Kyiv look like on 12 May 2024? On that date, Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to the National Security Council and replaced him with Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, in the middle of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

A change at the Russian Defence Ministry

The move took Shoigu out of the defence portfolio and put an official who had been serving as deputy prime minister in his place. Shoigu's new post was on the National Security Council.

A security shake-up in Kyiv

The reshuffle in Moscow came days after a security scandal in Ukraine. On 7 May 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine said it had detained two colonels from the government protection unit. According to the agency, Russia's Federal Security Service had recruited them, and they were planning to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian officials.

Two days later, on 9 May 2024, Zelenskyy fired Serhiy Rud, the head of the state guards. The dismissal followed allegations that two members of the guards had been involved in the assassination plot.

The wider picture

According to Ukrainian government officials and news sources, Zelenskyy has survived dozens of assassination and kidnapping attempts by Russian or pro-Russian agents during the war. At least three of them were foiled by Ukrainian security services. That account was compiled later and was not part of the reporting of 12 May 2024.

The events of the days up to 12 May 2024 were thus changes at the top of the security and defence establishments on both sides of the war. In Russia, a new defence minister took over. In Ukraine, the head of the presidential guard had been dismissed after the arrests announced on 7 May 2024.