In Moscow's Shadows 245: Belousov And The War Machine
4/26/202644 min
Putin didn’t pick a battlefield hero to run Russia’s Defence Ministry. He picked Andrei Belousov, an economist with a planner’s instincts and a technocrat’s patience. Thats what the Kremlin thinks it needs most right now: a 'Quartermaster-in-Chief,' who wouldn't tangle with Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov, but instead focus in procurement that works, production at scale, drones that reach units fast, and a defence industrial complex that can keep up with an ugly, grinding war economy.
He is satisfying Putin, the generals and society -- for now. But his legitimacy depends on results, he is boxed in by a team of deputies representing other factions and interests, and in many ways the real tests begin when the war ends.
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First 90 secondsMark Galeotti· Host0:00
Zealot, quartermaster-in-chief, war-winning technocrat, or just a passing fad? Who is Defense Minister Belousov? [patriotic music] Hello, I'm Mark Galeotti, and welcome to My View of Russia in Moscow Shadows. This podcast of varying length, frequency, and format, yet always reassuringly low production values, is supported by generous and perspicacious patrons like you, and also by the crisis exercise software company, Conductor. It serves me right, you know. It serves me right for planning. I mean, often these podcasts are distinctly impromptu responses to news stories. And this time I had thought, "Well, actually, I'll do something different." And to a degree, it was triggered by my work on my forthcoming book, Russia in Hell, which is, title notwithstanding, an attempt to be potentially optimistic about Russia's future, and at least give reasons not to say why Russia will work out okay, but why it may. And that got me thinking actually about past moments, the sort of what if moments. If things had gone differently, Russia may