The Defense Ministry released a video on Saturday showing Sergei Shoigu chairing a meeting on Russia’s arms budget.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first public appearance in two weeks, according to images released on Saturday, after an absence that had raised questions that the Kremlin had tried to sweep away.
The Defense Ministry released a video on Saturday showing Sergei Shoigu chairing a meeting on Russia’s arms budget.
The images are undated, but the minister refers to a meeting with the finance minister which Russian agencies say took place on Friday, March 25.
He affirms that the orders and the supply of armaments are going as planned “despite the difficulties we are encountering today” due to the international sanctions imposed in reaction to the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
familiar face
On Thursday, the Kremlin had reported a conversation between the minister and President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of a report “on the progress of the special military operation” at a meeting of the Russian Security Council, sweeping the questions raised by the prolonged public absence of Sergei Shoigu in the midst of armed conflict.
The Kremlin also dismissed speculation about the minister’s health. “The Minister of Defense has a lot to do right now (…) it’s not really the time to do media activity,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Sergei Shoigu is usually a familiar face on television screens. He and Vladimir Putin regularly stage trips to the Siberian taiga, driving all-terrain vehicles, drinking tea or picking mushrooms.