The Kremlin ends questions about the absence of the defense minister from the public scene

The Kremlin announced Thursday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu briefed President Vladimir Putin on the developments of the conflict in Ukraine, ending questions about his absence from the public scene two weeks ago.

"Shoigu presented a report on the special military operation" during a meeting of the Russian Security Council, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

In a press conference, Peskov denied media speculation about the health condition of the minister, who had not appeared in public for nearly two weeks.

"The defense minister has a lot to do now," the spokesman said. "This is not the time to be doing media activity."

For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry announced in the evening that a telephone conversation took place between Sergei Shoigu and his Armenian counterpart Soren Babikyan.

The ministry said that the two ministers "discussed the current situation in the region and the areas in which the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh carry out their tasks."

Shoigu was born 66 years ago in the Tuva region of Siberia (Reuters)

Appearances and roles

Shoigu was often shown on television, especially with Vladimir Putin, on regular trips to the Siberian taiga region, where they drove in four-wheel drive vehicles and drank tea or collected mushrooms.

According to the French newspaper "La Croix", Shoigu plays the role of an "enthusiastic servant." He was born 66 years ago in the Tuva region (Siberia), and the man was not too far from his president, Putin, who goes with him for hunting and camping in his native region.

And Shoigu, according to the newspaper, is the one who oversaw the planning of military operations in Crimea, Syria and today in Ukraine, and he also controls military intelligence.

The newspaper adds that Shoigu is above all an executor of orders, a role he shares with real specialists in the army such as Chief of Staff Gerasimov, who is the theorist of hybrid warfare, as well as with the heads of the security services, with whom Putin regularly consults.