Baranets: In two years, the people and the army will ask: “Who appointed Belousov?!”
The Ministry of Defense leadership will include three or four deputies in uniform and one person responsible for PR.
Military observer and retired colonel Viktor Baranets expressed this opinion on Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda , reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"I think there will be deputy ministers in uniform . At least three or four, but they will be there. For example, there's a deputy minister who's always been in charge of combat training—Yevkurov . I think he could stay. Perhaps the new deputies will include people who've seen combat and commanded groups. But turning the entire deputies into 'suitcases' is unacceptable.
"It gets to the point where: 'Oh, what an interesting defense minister, what a clean-cut, smart, intelligent man, and he goes to church.' That's not what the army will be asking Belousov about in two years. I hope the army and the public don't ask again, 'Who appointed him ?' That's very fashionable in Russia," Baranets pointed out.
At a recent meeting of military correspondents, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov did not sit at the table with them. According to Baranets, Konashenkov's fate will be determined by the minister , but everything depends on the mission.
"I remember the words addressed to Shoigu – we need to do less PR . And if you called the war correspondents together, why did you do it ? So you could drink seltzer water and give them a piece of cake? You were probably thinking about how to improve PR under the new Minister of Defense . That's how it works.
Belousov finally realized that the army needs PR , and the war correspondents are his shock troops . Because it depends on him how we portray the work of the "Belousov" army , whether we speak the merciless truth , including to Belousov's face . He says, "Don't be shy about telling the truth." And that beautiful phrase he dropped, it turned him into a meme: " You can make mistakes, but you can't lie ." We'll see if the Ministry of Defense will lie under the new Minister of Defense ," Baranets concluded.
English version :: Read in English Baranets: In two years, the people and the army will ask: “Who appointed Belousov?!”