Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu would quit if he could claims former Putin official

A former Kremlin official has claimed that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu would be happy to get fired.

An unnamed former defence official has claimed that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu would be very happy if Vladimir Putin was to fire him. Following a disastrous period for the Russian military in Ukraine as they get pushed further back each day, the close ally of the President would happily walk away from the turmoil, according to the Guardian.

“Knowing Shoigu, I truly believe he would be happy to get sacked right now. He wants out of this mess”, the source allegedly said. “Even if Shoigu isn’t happy with what is happening, he’ll always be loyal to Putin and do his job. Putin knows he can fully trust him”, they added.

“Putin is a very destructive personality, he will play the different factions off each other and see what the best outcome will be”, the source continued. “He doesn’t know how to fix relationships, so in the end, someone will fall victim. Putin just wants to see what is best for him and the war in Ukraine”.

The former official also claimed that Shi¡oigu was opposed to the recent ‘annexations’ of Ukrainian territory that Putin carried out.

It is thought that the Defence Minister, although a close ally of Putin, could well be used as a scapegoat for Russia’s embarrassments in Ukraine, and end up getting fired. The liberation of the key city of Lyman by Ukrainian troops last week is the Kremlin’s biggest humiliation of the conflict so far. 

Shoigu has been the target in recent days of vitriol from both the Chechnyan leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the notorious Wagner Group.

Kadyrov blamed the Russian generals for the loss of formerly taken territory in Ukraine and said that if it was up to him, he would strip those officers of their rank and send them to fight on the front lines.

According to a senior defence official, there is a longstanding feud between Prigozhin and Shoigu. It dates back to 2014, when the Wagner Group was first formed. Shoigu recently poured petrol on those flames by firing Dmitry Bulgakov, the deputy defence minister, who the official claimed helped Prigozhin obtain lucrative contracts supplying the Russian army.

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