Politics | May 18th 2024 Edition

In a surprise shake-up of Russia’s security apparatus, Vladimir Putin moved Sergei Shoigu from his job as minister of defence, a role he has held since 2012, to the national security council. His replacement is Andrei Belousov, an economist with no experience of security matters but who has worked extensively on military budgets. The changing of the guard will have little effect on operations in Ukraine. Mr Putin prefers to speak directly to Valery Gerasimov, his senior general in the …