Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has not appeared since appearing on Russian state television on March 11 with the Kremlin’s last report on him on March 18, where he and Vladimir Putin are said to have attended a Security Council meeting. Questions were asked about his whereabouts with various reports suggesting that the 66-year-old was suffering from health problems and that he had a fight with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier reports said he could even lead a coup against the Russian leader in an uprising over the Ukraine war. However, he has since reappeared to chair a military meeting in which they discussed arms supplies from Russia, in a video released by the Ministry of Defense. Sergei Shoigu is a close ally of Vladimir Putin (Reuters) The video shows him talking about the army budget with the finance ministry, as well as artillery supplies. “We continue to deliver weapons and equipment in advance through credit,” he was quoted as saying. “Priorities are high-precision long-range weapons, aircraft equipment and maintaining the readiness of strategic nuclear forces.” The meeting was also attended by a number of high-ranking Russian military officials, including Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who was also recently absent from the limelight. Shoigu, a close ally of Putin who oversees his invasion of Ukraine, has not seen the president since meeting with Gerasimov on February 27, just days after Russian troops entered. With rumors of a rift between the couple, the Kremlin denied the allegations on Thursday, saying the defense minister had a lot on his plate and “now is not really the time for media activity.” He insisted that Mr. Shoigu be present at a Security Council meeting with Putin, with a video released later that allegedly proves it. The minister was briefly seen on a split screen of Russian officials appearing in front of the president, although doubts quickly dispelled his veracity. There were also rumors that he was in poor health, with an anonymous official telling the independent Russian news agency Agentstvo that he had heart problems.
