Putin appoints relative to defense ministry post in yet another shake-up
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has sacked four deputy defense ministers and appointed a relative to fill one of the resulting vacancies in the latest shake-up of the ministry.
According to Kremlin decrees, Nikolai Pankov, Ruslan Tsalikov, Tatiana Shevtsova and Pavel Popov all lost their jobs.
Anna Tsivilyova, a daughter of Putin's late cousin, took one of the empty spots and will be responsible for improving social and housing support for military personnel.
She is president of the Russian coal mining company JSC Kolmar Group and was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022.
Tsivilyova is married to Sergei Tsivilyov, Russia's energy minister.
The changes are the latest moves to have shaken-up Russia's defense ministry.
Putin last month officially appointed Andrei Belousov as the country's new defense minister, replacing the long-standing Sergei Shoigu in a surprise reshuffle of Russia's security and defense apparatus.
Shoigu had faced criticism for the Russian military's poor performance in Ukraine.
And in April, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was detained on the suspicion of receiving a bribe.
Ivanov, who was Russia's top official in charge of the country's construction of military facilities, was detained and remains in jail ever since.
Russia's Investigative Committee noted that an investigation is ongoing and did not provide any details on the allegations.
On May 13, a day after Shoigu was moved from the defense ministry to the security council, another top defense official was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe.
Yuri Kuznetsov, who oversaw the ministry's personnel, was arrested for allegedly taking 30 million rubles ($335,000).
Major General Ivan Popov, former commander of the 58th Army, was arrested on May 21 on charges of corruption and Defense Ministry's Communications Department Head Vadim Shamarin was arrested in his office on May 23.
