“Putin is preparing for a prolonged war in Ukraine and a future confrontation with NATO”

As of this Sunday, Andrei Belousov is Russia’s new Defense Minister. As of now, this is a 65 year old citizen without military training He was the Deputy Prime Minister of Putin’s government. His arrival in this important portfolio led to the dismissal of Sergei Shoigu, which came on the heels of the imprisonment last month of then-Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov amid corruption charges, for which he was struck down.

The Institute for War Studies said, “Belousov has a strong reputation as an effective technocrat, and internal sources have said he has a positive relationship with Putin.” “The Russian Defense Ministry under Shoigu has faced persistent criticism from military commentators while battling allegations of high-level corruption and bureaucratic inertia,” he said.

To support its claim of preparations for a long war in Ukraine, ISW focuses, among other things, on. In the economic formation of Belousov, who has spent nearly a decade leading that portfolio. “Putin likely intends to use his experience in civilian government positions to align federal economic policies with the Russian Defense Ministry’s agenda,” the report said.

Experience managing drone projects

The analysis also notes the recent involvement of the current Kremlin defense minister. Management of various drone projects, “They prepare him well to lead the system through difficulties.”

Last November, Belousov informed Putin of the problems with the national production of these unmanned aerial vehicles. “Recently the Kremlin has had to consider the gap between Russian drone production and contemporary battlefield realities,” the ISW report said.

In the same line of difficulties regarding drones, Dmitry Rogozin, former director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, has highlighted the complications that Russia is experiencing. When intercepting Ukrainian drone On the front line. According to him, the Russian army will have to consider other methods to shoot down these unmanned vehicles. Specifically, he mentioned smoke screens or rapid-fire robotic devices. According to him, the Russian Army has these capabilities, but not in sufficient quantity.

Indeed, the new Russian Defense Minister introduced a State project for production of drones by 2030 and measures to support workers in this industry, all valued at approximately $48 million. This US think tank says, “A focus on maximizing technological innovation and production, particularly in the drone sector, is likely to be extremely valuable to the Kremlin’s war effort.”

Another idea that looms over the conflict is an attack on NATO areas. Although this is something the Kremlin has rejected, Poland has recently expressed concern about Russia’s immediate intention to attack a country in the Atlantic alliance.

ISW, speaking on similar lines, has said that this change in defense can bring with it Preparing for future conflict with NATO, In connection with these potential attacks, several German politicians have recently expressed their support for using air defense systems deployed by the coalition to shoot down Russian drones over western Ukraine, in order to protect Ukrainian first-line areas. Can concentrate.