Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has been most notable for his absence from the public eye for nearly all of the troubled eight-week invasion of Ukraine, surfaced Monday to defend the operation and insist Russian forces are on track to “liberate” two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
The near-invisibility of Mr. Shoigu, long a close policy and personal adviser to President Vladimir Putin, has stoked speculation that he had been ill or sidelined because of the checkered performance of Russian forces in the war.
Mr. Shoigu, 66, was shown Tuesday telling Russian military commanders in a televised meeting, “We are gradually implementing our plan to liberate the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.”
The Agence France-Presse news agency said Mr. Shoigu also accused the U.S. and NATO allies of “doing everything to drag out” the struggle through their arms shipments and other support for the government in Kyiv.
Russia’s military has been forced to drastically reorient its war plans following the unexpectedly tough Ukrainian resistance, poor logistical support for its invading forces, the deaths of a number of senior commanders, and the humiliating loss last week of the Black Sea flagship Moskva to a Ukrainian missile attack.
The Kremlin has revamped the chain of command for the invasion, now focused heavily on Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions, and reportedly put a single commander, Gen. Aleksandr Dvornikov, in charge of what Russian officials still call the “special military operation.”
Still, many of the military pronouncements that a defense minister would be expected to handle are coming from other figures besides Mr. Shoigu.
It was Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has retained a high profile throughout the fighting, who confirmed Tuesday to reporters that a “new phase” in the Ukraine campaign has begun, focused on the Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed “republics.”
Western military analysts have speculated that Mr. Shoigu was taking the fall for the failure of Mr. Putin’s original plan, which envisioned a quick capture of the capital, Kyiv, and the toppling of the government.
To date, Russian forces have failed to fully seize a single major Ukrainian city and have abandoned ground campaigns focused on major targets such as Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Mr. Shoigu has said almost nothing publicly since the war started. His last public appearance apparently came 10 days ago, when he was seen at the funeral of longtime nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.