Putin ousts defense-industry head as Ukraine war drags on

Bloomberg

Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned the top official responsible for military production as the Kremlin digs in for a long war in Ukraine that’s tested an industry long plagued by inefficiency and corruption.
Putin released Yury Borisov as deputy prime minister overseeing the defense industry and appointed him as general director of Roscomos in place of Dmitry Rogozin, who’d led the state space corporation since 2018, in a decree published Friday on the Kremlin’s website.
Responsibility for defense production passed to Industry Minister Denis Manturov, according to the government’s website, after he was earlier confirmed as deputy prime minister by lawmakers attending a special session of the lower house of parliament.
Russia’s military-industrial complex is the “backbone” of its industry and must continue to develop to support the army’s combat effectiveness, both in Ukraine and in production of new weapons, Manturov said in an interview with RBC TV.
The shuffle comes as Kremlin officials insist Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is going to plan even as Russia’s military has suffered extensive losses of men and armaments in nearly five months of war. Having failed in an early plan to seize Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in days, Russia has regrouped its forces to try to take over the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Putin yesterday signed a law allowing the Russian government to impose special measures including night shifts and overtime work at companies in order to boost weapons repairs and production of military equipment, citing a “short-term increased need.”