For the first time in four days, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the whereabouts of the head of the department, Sergei Shoigu. As follows from the message in the Telegram channel, he visited the advanced command post of the "Western" group of troops with a check. Shoigu never appeared in public during the military mutiny raised by Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 23.
The press service said that at the command post, the minister heard a report by Colonel-General Yevgeny Nikiforov, commander of the Zapad grouping, on the current situation at the front. Shoigu also held a meeting with the command of the group.
The Ministry of Defense published a video of Shoigu's arrival at the command post of one of the units of the Zapad group. When it was taken is unknown. Military blogger Boris Rozhin wrote on June 23 that Shoigu visited the Belgorod region with an inspection to check troops and positions. The Rybar Telegram channel believes that the video shown on Monday was filmed during this trip.
Russian propaganda Telegram channels reported that Shoigu could be removed from the post of defense minister, and the current governor of the Tula region, Alexei Dyumin, would take his place. It was also reported that on June 24, Dyumin held talks with Prigogine to end the rebellion. On the same day, the press service of the government of the Tula region called this information untrue. “The indicated issues are beyond the powers of the governor,” the press service emphasized.
Earlier, The Insider wrote that Dyumin has a close relationship with Prigozhin. Dyumin, who became head of the Tula region in 2016, had previously worked as Russia’s deputy defense minister and even earlier as Vladimir Putin’s bodyguard.