Two reshuffles in Kyiv and Moscow before 15 May 2024

What did the personnel moves of mid-May 2024 say about the two capitals at war? By 15 May 2024, both Kyiv and Moscow had made changes at the top of their security and defence structures within days of each other.

On 9 May 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired Serhiy Rud, the head of the state guards. The dismissal followed allegations that two members of the guards were involved in an assassination plot against Zelenskyy. The guards are the body responsible for protecting the president, which made the allegation especially sensitive.

Three days later, on 12 May 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin moved Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to the National Security Council. He replaced him at the Defence Ministry with Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov.

Two different kinds of change

The two decisions had different origins. In Kyiv, the dismissal was tied to a specific allegation of an assassination plot involving members of the president's own protection service. In Moscow, the change was a reassignment: Shoigu was not removed from the leadership circle but shifted to the National Security Council, while a deputy prime minister took over the defence portfolio.

The wider backdrop

The plot allegation sat within a longer pattern. Ukrainian officials and news sources have said that 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.

Both moves came during the Russo-Ukrainian war, and both involved the people closest to each leader's security and military command.