Russia’s new Defence Minister: Andrei Belousov.

— Sergei Shoigu is out as Putin’s defence minister. He’s been in the position since 2012.

— Belousov is a Russian economist and politician, has been serving as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia since January 21, 2020.

— He played a crucial role in implementing the Russian Government's economic policy, overseeing economic growth, and stabilizing Russian markets.

— He supervises national projects, finance, foreign trade, and counteraction to sanctions.

#BREAKING Putin dismissed Nikolai Patrushev from the post of Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

#BREAKING Putin appoints Shoigu as the Secretary of the Russian Security Council.

Shakeup in Russia’s security system:

— Sergei Shoigu is out as Defense Minister after 12 years; now appointed as the head of Russian Security Council.

— Andrei Belousov appointed as the new defense minister.

— Nikolai Patrushev has been removed from the post of Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. He’s been holding the position since 2008.

Top Russian General Valery Gerasimov will continue to hold his position.

Kremlin says “Putin decided that the Russian Ministry of Defense should be headed by a civilian; the department should be open to innovation and advanced ideas.”

Kremlin confirms Belousov has been appointed new Minister of Defense, replacing Shoigu.

Kremlin says the budget of the Ministry of Defense is approaching the level of the mid-80s, it amounts to 6.7% of GDP, "this is not yet critical."

A group of Ukrainian soldiers came under massive Russian shelling in Kharkiv region.

Reportedly, there were no casualties.

South Korea says North Korea have shipped around 6,700 containers to Russia since a summit between their leaders in September, which are enough to accommodate approximately 3 million rounds of 152 mm artillery shells or 500,000 rounds of 122 mm artillery shells.

Sudanese soldier captures RSF quadcopter barehanded in the middle of a desert.

Russian Su-34 fighter jet strikes with guided UMPK bombs, reportedly targeting Ukrainian air defense system.

After the initial strikes, double tap strikes were repeated on the same target to maximize damage/casualties.

Ukraine shoots down Russian missiles much less often than at the beginning of war.

— Over the past 6 months, Ukraine has intercepted about 46% of missiles. For comparison in the previous six months, the indicator was 73%.

— Last month, 30% of missiles were intercepted.

— Shahed kamikaze UAV shot downs: 82% (down by one point in six months).

— In general, over the past 6 months, the Russian Federation has launched 45% more UAVs and missiles than in the previous six months.

Source: WSJ

Financial Times source on new Russian Defence Minisiter Andrei Belousov:

“He’s absolutely not corrupted. And that’s going to be very different from what we have now in the ministry of defence. Shoigu and everyone around him were really commercial guys.”

18+ Ukrainian FPV drone strikes tore two Russian soldiers in half trying to play dead.