President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia replaced his defense minister on Sunday as he reorganized his national security team for the first time since his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin kept Minister Sergei K. Shoigu in his inner circle and chose him to lead the country’s security council.
Andrei R. Belousov, an economist who was first deputy prime minister in the last government and previously minister of economic development, was nominated to become the new defense chief.
It is unclear how much authority over the war effort Shoigu will retain.
The Kremlin also said that Nikolai P. Patrushev, a former colleague of Putin’s in the KGB who has headed the Russian security council for 16 years, would be moved to another position to be announced in the coming days.
Russian commentators quickly expressed surprise at the appointment of an economist to oversee Russia’s expanding military. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told reporters that Putin made the decision because of the sharp increase in the defense budget over the past two years.
“It is very important to adapt the economy of the security bloc to the country’s economy, to adapt it to the dynamics of the current moment,” Peskov said.
It was a rare shakeup for Putin, who values loyalty and sticks with Shoigu despite Russia’s military failures early in the war and last summer’s shameful mutiny by mercenary chief Yevgeny V. Prigozhin.
The possible change in Shoigu’s stature had been signaled last month, when Russian authorities arrested one of his top deputies on corruption charges. Replacing him with Belousov, long considered one of Putin’s most trusted economic advisers, also highlights the Kremlin’s success in keeping the Russian economy afloat in the face of Western sanctions.
The change comes less than a week after Putin took office for his fifth term as Russia’s president. The Russian leader’s entire cabinet was dissolved as part of the government transition. Many of his ministers, but not all, were reappointed to their positions.
Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff and Russia’s highest-ranking military officer, will remain in his post, the Kremlin said.