Putin appoints Belousov as Russia's defence minister

According to Ukrinform, the press service of the Russian presidential administration disseminated this information.

"The head of state has appointed Belousov Andrey Removich as Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation," the Kremlin said.

Previously, Belousov served as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. 

At the same time, former Russian Security Council Secretary Dmitry Patrushev has been promoted to the post of deputy prime minister.

In addition, Putin appointed the rest of the government and heads of various departments, but they remained largely unchanged. 

Shoigu, who had been head of the Defence Ministry since 2012, was appointed Secretary of the Russian Security Council.