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Two Kyiv and Moscow reshuffles in one week
Summary
A look back at how dismissals in Kyiv and Moscow's defence ministry change brought personnel upheaval to both sides of the war in May 2024.
What did the personnel changes of May 2024 say about the pressures on both sides of the war? On 15 May 2024, two recent decisions stood out, one in Kyiv and one in Moscow.
On 9 May, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Serhiy Rud, the head of the state guards. The move followed allegations that two members of the guards had been involved in a plot to assassinate the president. The dismissal placed the question of security around the Ukrainian leader at the centre of attention.
Three days later, on 12 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to the National Security Council. Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov replaced him at the defence ministry.
Two systems, two reshuffles
The two decisions were different in kind. One was a dismissal tied to an alleged plot against a head of state; the other was a transfer of a defence minister to another body, with a deputy prime minister taking over his post. Both, however, changed who held senior security and defence responsibilities within days of each other.
The Ukrainian case also fitted a wider pattern described later. Ukrainian officials and news sources have said Zelenskyy has survived dozens of assassination and kidnapping attempts by Russian or pro-Russian agents during the war, including at least three foiled by Ukrainian security services. That account came after 15 May 2024, and it gives context to why an alleged plot involving guards was treated so seriously.
What to take from it
What can be said with confidence is limited to the decisions themselves: who was removed, who was moved, and who took over. In Kyiv the focus was the integrity of the people protecting the president. In Moscow it was the leadership of the defence ministry in the middle of the war.
