JRL NEWSWATCH: “Is Russia’s defence chief emerging as Putin’s possible successor? Putin is still pondering the idea of another term, but as he approaches 70, bets are being placed on Sergey Shoigu” – Al Jazeera
… [M]any wonder who will succeed [Putin], and when. … [T]he Kremlin scrupulously weeds out all charismatic critics. … [P]otential successors from the halls of power have been demoted to irrelevant sinecures. … Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu[] [is] Russia’s longest-serving cabinet member and its second-most popular politician …. [H]e hails from Tuva, an impoverished province of Turkic-speaking Buddhists that borders northwestern China and has some of Russia’s highest murder and suicide rates. Some Tuvan intellectuals even consider him a reincarnation of Subedei, a Mongol general …. Shoigu started his career … as head of the emergencies ministry [before later becoming Defense Minister] …. Putin [recently] appointed him the poster boy of United Russia …. Shoigu is often seen on TV fishing and hunting with Putin ….”
Click here for: “Is Russia’s defence chief emerging as Putin’s possible successor? Putin is still pondering the idea of another term, but as he approaches 70, bets are being placed on Sergey Shoigu” – Al Jazeera/ Mansur Mirovalev