Close Putin ally Shoigu fired as war costs could 'undo the Russian war effort' | Prof. Scott Lucas 

I'm concerned about Shoigu's firing. Hopefully, the Russians have found someone equally incompetent to take over the role.

Maybe best to stay on the ground floor Shoigu...

Stay away from tea and windows Shoigu. 😂

Happy to be able to listen to a professional, facts-based, unbiased analysis - pretty rare these days.

Imagine a man with zero military experience becomes a general 😂.

Should Shoigu defect, or just stay away from windows above the ground floor?

Belousov got the job for the same reason Shoigu did, because he is not likely to turn the military against Putin. Shoigu may have seemed like an awful choice but he was the safe bet.

Great Interviewee. Thanks

Shoigu has been given a nice cup of tea with window view

This is all smoke and mirrors. Making a conclusion of it is crazy.

If I was him i'd shy away from plane and train rides, champagne, etc.

Shoigu just got stabbed in the back by the man he has chained himself to. Shoigu is;was(?) one of Putin’s closest inner circle. The last time Shoigu was in the news, Wagner Group leader, aka murders R us, Prigozhin tried to coup Shoigu out of existence and instead spent his last moments in a plane crash. Well, it was more original that high rise window walking. If this is any indication, Putin must be freaking out because he’s making some crazy decisions, flopping around panicking, betraying an old, loyal friend like Sergio. It just doesn’t bode well for the person who just re elected himself for a 6th stunning term as President. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy🍿🍿🍿

We must see the economic, technological and military “power” of Russia in perspective. Russia is indeed a huge country in square km, but only has (a declining) 144 million inhabitants (Mexico 128 million, Japan 123 million). This is about 30% of USA or Eurozone. The GDP of Russia however is only 4% of the GDP of the Eurozone + USA, this is equal to the GDP of the small countries Belgium + Netherlands. And less than the GDP of the state of California. Relatively (per capita) the GDP of Russia is very low. Beside that the economy of Russia has signs of a 3th world economy. Half of the income is coming from oil & gas. Based on this, Russia isn’t a world power. And for sure, it isn’t a economic power. This is the reason they can’t build up and maintain a big army. The army they have is far beyond normal proportions in relation to their GDP. This hurts their budgets and prosperity permanently. In this perspective, Russia is just a megalomaniac dictatorship with a huge inferiority complex and dangerous ambitions. The path they chose will be their downfall.

Pooptin pooping himself

A finance officer in charge of military, ... anything, is not good news for Soldiers.

Well, another on to join the 3rd floor jump contest, Putin turns full Stalin II

Shoy-Goo changes his name to Shoy-Gone. 😆

Good interview. I do despise how you open the pod cast with some key comment from the speaker and then subject your listeners to sitting through it a second time in the broader discussion.

How Scott Lucas with such level of understanding can be a professor?

I'm surprised there is so little comment on Shoigu's new job - he has replaced a hard-line Putin supporter and FSB colleague. Does this indicate Putin is coming to the view that the FSB messed up on intelligence at the beginning of the war? Starting to distrust the FSB could kick of a whole load of rivalries at the top which could be bad news for Putin.

Thank you Professor !

That new guy looks like he's excellent at telling the boss why other people are wrong

Good analysis

There was interwebs chatter that Russian 45th Guard Spetsnaz Division located in Moscow, stated if General Shoigu and other generals are replaced, they will start a coup. That was approximately 9 days ago.

Great interview

Shoigu's deputy General was recently arrested in full Uniform, in his Office, by the FSB on charges of corruption, theft, embezzlement.... For all his own corruption, Putin has to be seen as not letting Shoigu get away with saying that he wasn't aware of his deputy General's dodgy activities.

Thanks!

Someone who is honest has no future anywhere in Russian government.

Nobody Russia: oh you have economic background, come be a military general 😂😂

It's pretty clear Putin is flailing right now. but this guy sure seems to know what' he's talking about, it's refreshing

Shoigu was promoted He is the head of security council ,

Wonderful analysis of the replacement of Shogu, its cause and the ramifications.😊

If it was a sacking he wouldn't be placed in the security council he would be sent to africa or something.

😅 "To stay away from window, or not stay away from window, that is question!" As a true Russian he decides against his better judgement & walks towards a window. Steps on a banana peel on the ground, get's brutaly catapulted outside, splatteres against the wall of the building across the street, right after releasing Wilhelm Scream. GRU: 😏 "Perfect. Everyone will believe was surprise accident, sad, so sad..."

pretty sure shoigu could fund the war for 6-12 months with what he's stolen.

Ops! He's been promoted 😂

*promotion* _noun_ 1. activity that supports or provides the fact of being raised in position or rank, e.g. _"Did you hear the news? Shoigu got sacked into becoming Secretary of the Security Council. Russia are finished now!!"_

If I was shoigu I'd stay away from windows. Especially those on planes and choppers.

Replacing incompetent Shoigu with a bean counter who never served.....That sure gonna go well for Z army..

It has struck me that Putin doesn't have a mouth, just a small straight line. That's because he's absolutely a miserable person. This new minister has the same. No mouth, just a tiny pitiful line. No emotion, no soul, no mouth 😊

Calling trump to help pootin

Orcs...

How is the promotion of someone, who had been publicly thinking about resigning even before the Ukraine war, to head of national security... a "sacking"? These politically motivated hot-takes on Ukraine (Russia is going bankrupt in a year! Russia is out of missiles! etc...) are problematic. Not just because they're false, but because they create public expectations that Ukraine is doing better than it is. Whenever UA fails to live up to those (unrealistic) expectations set by networks and pieces like this, public opinion in the west turns against it more than it (rationally) should, because they're perceived as underperforming when they're actually doing about as well as one could reasonably hope. The consequences of this, in terms of public support for continued/expanded funding in the US (and elsewhere) are far-reaching. Painting everything in Ukraine as a Russian failure is /not/ beneficial to Ukraine. FWIW, I say this as someone who absolutely believes that Russian aggression in Ukraine is unjustified, abhorrent, and needs to be stopped. But bias in media also needs to be stopped. It's like people don't even consider what the repercussions of their words could be....

Watch the windows!!

🇺🇦❤🇺🇦❤🇺🇦❤💪👍🇬🇧💪❤🇺🇦

So basically hes put an accountant in charge of the military

Shoigu being fired is incorrect - it’s just misreported. Shoigu is a competent, hard working Russian, a mean guy, a hard nosed militarist..

Wow.

Hes a good friend of Putin .

Only Putin is to blame.

It will be hard to find a replacement of Shoigu with equal incompetence.

He is not been sacked

How's UK going?

Putin continues to rearrange deck chairs on his sinking Titanic

When does he fall out of a window and where does the new guy find the 3 Trillion its cost so far?

This person will squeeze Russia 's economy dry like a lemon 🍋 😂😂😂😂.

More from Prof. Lucas

This is terrible news...Shoigus incompetence has been Ukraine's best ally

Nooo concessions.

As Putin is about to visit China, I will take this personnel arrangement as a political signal or hint.

Can't afford to have Shoigu leeching all the money for his own personal gain anymore? Or is it just someone else's turn to stick their nose in the Russian citizens' trough?

I don't if anyone in Britain has noticed but a litre of petrol in Russia is 43 pence and in Britain you can put £1:20 on that. Please stop telling us how bad Russia is doing when it's obvious that the backside of Britain is falling out.

Don t drink the green tea .

"Nice accomodation", in Russia that means an apartment with a window and some tea.

Albert Speer was a architect did manage to increase productivity and war prolonging producing more amonution than previous years

Shoigu was neutralized for reasons that have very little to do with the war.

There were hints of Shoigu going away, his friend generals were arrested for corruption, Polish channel Kremlinka talked about such possibility for a month at least.

❤Ukrainian ❤

_"Inflation is going up"_ Reality: the annual inflation rate in Russia remained steady at a one-year peak of 7.7%

Shoigu should stay away from windows.

He needs a trotski one that can manage all components and ia a strategist

Shoigu was promoted to head up the security council. That's actually a position that has substantial influence. Scott Lucas from the Clinton Institute? That explains the stupidity.

huh? Shoigu wasnt sacked, he promoted to a higher position. He has been promoted to Secretary of the Security Council, which actually puts him closer to Putin in terms of power.

Where is Sokolov???

Shoigu wasn't sacked. Shoigu was transferred. Patrushev was sacked. Nobody is safe around Darth Vladimir. "Apology accepted, Secretary Patrushev. General Shoigu, you are now in charge." It's the blame game, only the person to blame is really Darth Vladimir.

Pretty soon there will be a response from the Russian populace..Their boys dieing in thousands,economy relying on war footing, refineries going up in smoke and on and on. Surely their patience has to end

Work on your audio. I cannot hear the interview.

Actualy,Shoigu was promoted to second place in command just behind Putin in directorate of all security services.To exept that possition he has to resign to previus possition.

Sacked - "sewn into a sack and thrown out a window"

The Ukrainian commander responsible for the northeastern Kharkiv frontline has been replaced after Russia launched a surprise offensive, a military spokesperson said on Monday. Nazar Voloshyn told RBC-Ukraine media that the decision to appoint Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapatyi to the position was taken on May 11. He gave no reason for the decision. It comes amid reports that Ukrainian defences were “built in the wrong place” to halt Russia’s Kharkiv offensive.

Shoigu needs to stay well away from open windows.

Fired? 🤣🤣 you mean promoted??

Russia's economy is already toast. Belousov can't bring it back.

‘tHE tiMEs’ says ‘fired’, whilst everyone else says ‘promoted’ ? 🤔 🥴🤦🏽‍♂️🤡

Kyiv in three days is now Kyiv in (maybe) three decades. Rock on, Vlade, rock on. Putin is an epic bungler.

Probably doesn't indicate much. Being defense minister for 10 years of war takes a toll, especially on an old man. Putin's been very loyal to Shoigu. Football teams changes coaches after just a couple loosing seasons. Imagine nearly 500,000 causalities and hundreds of billions of dollars spent on so little real estate.

Unexpected? No, this was expected after Russian deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov was charged with corruption. Konstantin at "inside russia" brought this up more than 2 weeks ago, saying this was just a step to get closer to bringing down Shoigu. He was right, indeed.

wait wait wait hold on Russia is running out of money?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

LoL, he was effectively promoted 😂

But they are winning unfortunatley.

Yeah, Shoigu was sacked and followed Putin to Beijing 😂

The author, or the contributing authors, and the narrator might feel rather smug in this presentation. First, it was well organized. Secondly, the vocabulary was perfect in making the presentation accessible for everyone to understand. Thirdly, the detail in understanding of the subject matter is strong. Fourthly, he arguments presented for the purpose of supporting the thesis are excellent. Fifthly, the narrator comes across as someone who sounds as though he knows what he is talking about without a script. Finally, it is apparent that his background of his subject matter is strong and he possesses vast amounts of information that he has analyzed from many different angles and layers. The only drawback is that it is primary seen through rose glasses of the West’s view. Nonetheless, I liked it.

Was he fired? Or was he PROMOTED? Does his new position not bring him more power and influence?

He was not sacked. He's now in charge of the entire Military-Industrial comples of Russia, a job for which he's well-suited. he's an engineer & knows exactly what the Army needs from the supply end of the chain. He's like the National Security Advisor (i.e. Sullivan, or Kissinger). Not exactly 'sacked'. Facts please

Shoigu gets promoted and times radio calls it 'fired' SMH Fake news

You want to work for a murderer?

Shoigu was not sacked what if he requested Putin to be redeployed elsewhere.

If the Minister of Defence (Offence) runs the military economy, who actually leads Russia's armed forces?

🥇

Promoted hes now first Seceratary of the security council, a similar position to Jake Sullivan