Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday appointed a new deputy defence minister and reassigned the outgoing deputy to the country’s Security Council, in the latest reshuffle of Russia’s military and security leadership.
In a decree published by the Kremlin, Putin dismissed Andrei Bulyga from his post as deputy defence minister and appointed him as deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council.
Bulyga, a Colonel General who had been responsible for military logistics since March 2024, was appointed to the defence ministry following a series of corruption cases that began in April 2024. The scandals led to the arrest of more than a dozen people, including three former deputy defence ministers, on charges including embezzlement and bribery.
The broader shake-up saw former Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu appointed as secretary of the Security Council in May 2024, amid the corruption probes and criticism of his forces’ performance in Ukraine.
Bulyga, who was born in Kazakhstan in 1968, is a graduate of several military academies and has served in various logistical and planning roles within the Russian armed forces.
In a separate decree, Putin appointed Colonel General Aleksandr Sanchik, who previously commanded Russia’s Southern Military District, to replace Bulyga as deputy defence minister.
Sanchik, who was born in Uzbekistan in 1966, is a graduate of the Tashkent Higher Tank Command School and the General Staff Academy. He has been sanctioned by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and several other countries over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He was also a prominent participant in Russia’s military operations in Syria.
