Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as
secretary
A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
of the
Security Council since 2024. He served as
Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served as the chairman of the
Council of Ministers of Defense of the Commonwealth of Independent States since 2012.
Shoigu was the
Minister of Emergency Situations from 1991 to 2012. He briefly served as the
governor of Moscow Oblast in 2012. A close confidant and ally of
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, Shoigu belongs to the ''
siloviki'' of Putin's inner circle.
He was entrusted with the task of supervising the invasion of Ukraine since 2022. A
feud
A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
between Shoigu and
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a ...
led to
a mutiny by the
Wagner Group
The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...
in June 2023. The
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
has issued an
arrest warrant for Shoigu on charges of alleged
war crime
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
s during the
invasion of Ukraine.
In May 2024, Putin replaced Shoigu with
Andrey Belousov as defense minister, appointing the former to be the
secretary
A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
of the
Security Council of the Russian Federation.
Early life and education
Shoigu was born on 21 May 1955 in
Chadan,
Tuvan Autonomous Oblast, to an ethnic
Tuvan father, newspaper editor
Kuzhuget Shoigu (1921–2010) and a Ukrainian-born Russian mother, Alexandra Yakovlevna Shoigu (1924–2011). Alexandra Shoigu grew up in the
Donbas
The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...
town of
Kadiivka
Kadiivka () or Stakhanov (), is a city in Alchevsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, Donbas, eastern Ukraine. Residence of Kadiivka urban hromada. It is located on the Komyshuvakha River, a right tributary of the Luhan (river), Luhan. Ukraine renamed the ci ...
and had traumatizing experiences while under detention of the
German occupation forces during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Later in her career she became a member of the Tuva Regional Council of People's Deputies. Kuzhuget Shoigu rose to secretary of the
Tuvan Regional Committee of the
Communist Party, becoming a major figure in the Communist power structure of the republic.
After graduating from
Kyzyl
Kyzyl ( ) is the capital city of the Republic of Tuva within the Russian Federation. Kyzyl's population is approximately
History
The city was founded in 1914 as Belotsarsk. It was renamed Hem-Beldir from 1918 to 1926. When the city was the ca ...
Number 1 School in the
Tuvan ASSR, Shoigu studied at the
Krasnoyarsk Polytechnic Institute. Shoigu graduated in 1977 with a degree in
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...
.
Early career and first steps in CPSU
Shoigu worked in construction projects nationwide for the next decade, advancing from low levels to become an executive. In 1988, Shoigu became a minor functionary in the
Abakan branch of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
, and then in the
Komsomol for a few years. In 1990, Shoigu moved to Moscow from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, and was appointed deputy chairman of the State Architecture and Construction Committee of the Russian Federation,
assisted by his father's connections. Future president
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...
had held a similar position in the Construction Committee, and had also come from a civil engineering and party background, so Shoigu gained Yeltsin's trust.
Minister of Emergency Situations (1991–2012)
In 1991, Yeltsin appointed him head of the newly established Russian Rescue Corps, responsible for the rescue and disaster response system. The Rescue Corps replaced the previous Soviet civil defense system and soon absorbed the 20,000-strong militarized
Civil Defense Troops of the Ministry of Defense, with Shoigu being appointed chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations, and Disaster Response. Civil Defense remained a quasi-military organization in continuation of Soviet practice and Shoigu was politically involved, such as an unsuccessful attempt to evacuate Russian-backed Afghan president
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...
in 1992 and the intended distribution of weapons from the Civil Defense stocks to Yeltsin supporters during the
October 1993 coup. In keeping with the militarized nature of Russian civil defense, Shoigu received the rank of major general in 1993, and was promoted swiftly to lieutenant general in 1995, colonel general in 1998, and to
army general
Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime.
In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...
, in practice the highest Russian military rank, in 2003. The committee was renamed the
Ministry of Emergency Situations (''MChS'') in 1994, making Shoigu a government minister. He became popular because of his hands-on management style and high visibility during emergency situations, such as floods, earthquakes and
acts of terrorism.
Under Shoigu, the responsibilities of the ministry were expanded to take over the
Russian State Fire Service in 2002, making the ''MChS'' Russia's third-largest force structure.
In 1999 he became one of the leaders of the Russian pro-government party
Unity, created by the Kremlin in opposition to the anti-Yeltsin elites of the
Fatherland – All Russia alliance. Unity allowed for the rise of
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
to president and in 2001 was combined into the ruling
United Russia
The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
party, although Shoigu was the only delegate to vote against the merger.
In 1999, Shoigu was awarded Russia's most prestigious state award:
Hero of the Russian Federation.
In March 2009, he proposed a law that would criminalize criticism of
Soviet military tactics during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, which resulted in large numbers of
Soviet casualties.
Governor of Moscow Oblast (2012)
With over twenty years of service as Minister of Emergency Situations, Shoigu established a close relationship with
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, and was rewarded by being appointed
Governor of Moscow Oblast in 2012, taking office on 11 May of that year.
Minister of Defence (2012–2024)
On 6 November 2012, Shoigu was appointed
Minister of Defence
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
by Putin, succeeding
Anatoly Serdyukov, who had implemented sweeping reforms of the Russian Armed Forces in response to performance in the
Russo-Georgian War
The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...
. According to expert Sergey Smirnov, the so called "Petersburg group" of
siloviki (
Sergei Ivanov,
Sergey Chemezov and
Viktor Ivanov) had wanted one of its associates to succeed Serdyukov, but Putin was reluctant to strengthen the clan and opted for the neutral Shoigu. As defence minister, Shoigu on multiple occasions accompanied Putin during weekend breaks that the pair would spend at undisclosed locations in the Siberian countryside.
Serdyukov was unpopular with senior military leaders and seen by them as a civilian with no military background, something that Shoigu attempted to address by symbolically tying himself to the military through wearing an army general's uniform, reviving historical units dissolved under the reforms, and reinstating officials dismissed by Serdyukov. Furthermore, Shoigu appealed for support for reform within the army rather than taking a confrontational stance, appointed deputy ministers of defense from the military, and removed Serdyukov-appointed civilian tax service officials from the top echelons of the Ministry of Defense.
As defence minister, Shoigu continued aspects of Serdyukov's attempts at modernizing the Russian Armed Forces through reform. This included the creation of the
Special Operations Forces Command to facilitate rapid intervention in conflicts within the perceived Russian sphere of influence and counterterrorism efforts. Serdyukov's goals of increasing the share of the Russian Armed Forces made up of professional contract servicemen rather than conscripts continued under Shoigu. However, the demographic challenge of a decreasing pool of military-aged and -eligible males forced him to increase national conscription quotas in early 2013, including even North Caucasians perceived as a security risk by authorities such as Chechens. This followed on from Serdyukov's initiatives of reducing available draft exemptions.
In November 2012, Shoigu decided to resurrect the tradition of
Suvorov and
Nakhimov cadets participating in the
9 May parade.
In July 2013 Shoigu ordered commanders to begin every morning in the barracks with a rendition of the Russian anthem, to compile an obligatory military-patriotic book reading list and to take responsibility for the preparation of demobilization albums (a type of memento scrapbook, which in Russian military tradition is given to conscripts upon completion of their service). In August 2013 he ordered all Defense Ministry civilian workers, other staff and management employees to wear uniforms.
In February 2014, Shoigu said Russia was planning to sign agreements with
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
,
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
, the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...
,
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, and several other countries either to house permanent military bases and/or to house airplane refueling stations in those countries. Over the next year, only an agreement with Vietnam was effectively signed.
Activities related to treaties and military exercises
From early 2013 the Shoigu ministry made use of snap exercises as a means to ensure combat readiness of the
Eastern Military District, the
Western Military District
The Western Military District () was a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia, in existence from 2010 until its abolishment as a unitary military command on February 26, 2024, succeeded by the newly reconstituted Moscow Mil ...
, and the
Central Military District. Already in 2015 western observers mentioned the
Vienna Document while they spoke of "the deteriorating European security environment.. producing an action-reaction cycle involving Russia,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
and other European countries, all seeking to demonstrate the readiness of their armed forces."
In March 2015 Russia under Shoigu's defence ministry halted all activities related to the
Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
In October 2016 Shoigu hosted 56 representatives from 31 different
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...
nations, with Shoigu stating that the observers "had a chance to see with their own eyes that Russia had fully implemented its obligations on ensuring confidence and security in Europe". The observers were also shown new weapons deployed to the Russian Aerospace Force,
Ground and
Airborne Forces
Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers.
The main ...
. The previous visit of the OSCE observers took place in 2011.
Activities related to the revolution in Ukraine
In July 2014, Ukraine opened a criminal case against Shoigu. He was accused of helping to form "illegal military groups" in
Eastern Ukraine who at the time fought against the Ukrainian army.
The Ukrainian authorities alleged that Shoigu coordinated all of
DPR Supreme Commander
Igor Girkin's actions, supplying him and "other terrorist leaders" with "the most destructive weapons" since May and instructing him directly, with Putin's approval.
In July 2016 Shoigu said that he had "deployed more air defense systems in the southwest
f Russia
F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...
and "also deployed a 'self-sufficient' contingent of troops in
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
", adding "Since 2013 ... we have formed four divisions, nine brigades and 22 regiments. They include two missile brigades armed with
Iskander missile complexes, which has allowed to boost fire power to destroy the potential adversary."
In July 2018 Shoigu warned that the
Poroshenko administration of Ukraine was not fulfilling the
Minsk agreements which were signed in order to end the
war in Donbas
The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
.
Activities related to Syria
On 30 September 2015, Russia began a
military operation
A military operation (op) is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operati ...
in
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. The operation was carried out by the
Russian Aerospace Forces
The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...
, with the support of the
Russian Navy
The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...
and
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
's
Syrian Armed Forces
The Syrian Armed Forces () are the military forces of Syria.
Up until the fall of Bashar al-Assad's Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Ba'ath Party Ba'athist Syria, regime in December 2024, the Syrian Arab Armed Forces were the sta ...
.
On 16 December 2015, speaking to the members of the
State Duma
The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
behind closed doors, Shoigu mentioned the possibility of the Russian forces "reaching the
Euphrates
The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...
" in Syria.
In June 2016,
Russia Today, while reporting minister Shoigu's visit to
Hmeymim air base, showed
RBK-500 ZAB-2.5SM incendiary cluster bombs being loaded onto Russian airplanes. After this information was discovered to be inconsistent with official Russian statements, the video was removed. It was later reinstated. An editorial note below the video made no mention of the weapon, saying a frame in the video has caused "concern for personnel safety" because of a pilot's close-up. "Upon re-evaluation it was deemed that the frame did not pose any risks; it had since been restored and the video is up in its original cut", the RT statement said.
On 11 December 2017, days after declaring Syria had been "completely liberated" from
ISIL and with the
campaign liberating the western bank of the Euphrates in its final days, Putin visited the Russian base in Syria, where he announced that he had ordered the partial withdrawal of the forces deployed to Syria.
Several hours later, Shoigu said the troops had already begun to return.
On 26 December 2017, Shoigu said that Russia had set about "forming a permanent grouping" at the
Tartus naval facility and the Hmeymim airbase, after Putin approved their structure and personnel strength.
On the same day, the upper chamber of parliament approved the ratification of an agreement between Russia and Syria on expanding the Tartus naval facility, which envisages turning it into a full-fledged naval base.
[Russia's upper house ratifies agreement on naval base in Syria's Tartus](_blank)
TASS, 26 December 2017.
On 17 September 2018, during
multiple missile strikes by Israeli
F-16 jets at targets in western Syria, Russia's
Il-20 ELINT
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
reconnaissance plane returning to Khmeimim Air Base, with 15 Russian servicemen on board, was inadvertently downed by a Syrian
S-200 surface-to-air missile. Russia's defence minister the following day blamed Israel's military for the accident
and re-affirmed its stance in a minute-by-minute report presented on 23 September.
Early on 20 September, Russia's government-run news agency reported Russia had announced multiple areas of eastern Mediterranean near Syria, Lebanon, and Cyprus" shut for air and sea traffic until 26 September, due to the Russian Navy's drills in the area. Following the shoot down incident, Shoigu on 24 September said that within two weeks, the Syrian army would receive
S-300 air-defense missile systems to strengthen Syria's combat air defence capabilities; a series of other military measures were announced such as radio-electronic jamming of "satellite navigation, onboard radars and communications systems used by military aircraft attacking targets in Syrian territory", in the areas of the Mediterranean off the Syrian coast.
Shoigu said in August 2021 that Russia had tested 320 new weapons over the course of its campaign in Syria.
In Medvedev government
Shoigu was reappointed as defence minister in 2018 in the
Medvedev second government.
In Mishustin government

Shoigu was reappointed as defence minister in 2020 in the
Mishustin government.
In an August 2021 "
Solovyov Live" YouTube channel interview, Shoigu said referring to his tenure in the Ministry that "The requirements for fulfilling the defense procurement plan have risen dramatically. Over the past nine years, we have received 15,500 weapon systems for the ground forces. In 1999–2002, we had gotten 10 or 19 aircraft at best, that is, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft all together. That's why now that we receive 140–150 aircraft annually, this is quite a different story."
In August 2021, Shoigu praised military
cooperation between Russia and China.
Activities related to 2022 invasion of Ukraine
On 29 August 2021, Shoigu was recorded as saying that "Russia doesn't consider Ukraine as threat", while he expressed the hope that the situation in Ukraine would ultimately change and the "nationalist mayhem" would be stopped. Shoigu said that the Ukrainians "are not just our neighbors, we are a single people".
On 11 February 2022, Shoigu met UK Defense Secretary
Ben Wallace. Shoigu denied that Russia was planning an
invasion of Ukraine.
Wallace agreed at the meeting which also included General
Valery Gerasimov
Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov (born 8 September 1955) is a Russian Army general (Russia), army general serving as the Chief of the General Staff (Russia), Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and First Deputy Ministry of Defen ...
that it was important to implement the
Minsk agreements "as a clear way forward".

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale
military invasion of Ukraine. Shoigu said the purpose of the invasion "is to protect the Russian Federation from the military threat posed by Western countries, who are trying to use the Ukrainian people in the fight against our country". The sources say the decision to invade Ukraine was made by Putin and a small group of
war hawks in Putin's inner circle, including Sergei Shoigu and Putin's national security adviser
Nikolai Patrushev. In a 11 March video conference with Putin, Shoigu claimed that "everything is going to plan".
On 24 April, Putin decided to broadcast with English subtitles an 11-minute long
Siege of Mariupol situation report meeting with Shoigu.
On 13 May, U.S. Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin initiated a telephone conversation with Shoigu, the first call since 18 February. The call lasted about an hour with Austin urging an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Also on 13 May, former
FSB officer and former
DPR Supreme Commander
Igor Girkin harshly criticized Shoigu, accusing him of "criminal negligence" in conducting the invasion.
On 16 August, Shoigu said that Russia does not need to use
nuclear weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...
in Ukraine, as "its main purpose is to deter a nuclear attack. Its use is limited to extraordinary circumstances."
At the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security in August 2022, Shoigu hosted 35 defense ministers from
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
and
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. He described
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
as a "friendly state" and that South Africa's support has helped counter
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
pressure on Russia.
Shoigu and Putin attended the military exercise in the Russian Far East. Beyond Russian troops, the exercises also included military forces from
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and several
post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
, among others.
After
large
Large means of great size.
Large may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics
* Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers
* Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...
Ukrainian
counteroffensives in September 2022, Igor Girkin said that Shoigu should be executed by
firing squad
Firing may refer to:
* Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination
* Firemaking, the act of starting a fire
* Burning; see combustion
* Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms
* Execution by firing squad, a method of ...
. The Russia-installed governor of Ukraine's Kherson region
Kirill Stremousov said in a video shared on social media that "Many are saying that the Defense Minister – who allowed things to come to this – should simply shoot himself like a
ealofficer."
On 21 September 2022, Shoigu said in a televised speech that Russia was not so much at war with Ukraine and the Ukrainian army as with the "
collective West" and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
.
In September 2022, Shoigu claimed that 5,397 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war in Ukraine.
He said that the
2022 Russian mobilization is being carried out to control "already liberated territories" in Ukraine. According to Shoigu, it is planned to mobilize 300,000 reservists. Shoigu said the mobilized people could only be sent to combat zones after "training and combat coordination". However, some of the mobilized Russian men were killed less than two weeks after being drafted, meaning conscripted civilians are being sent to a combat zone without basic military training. On 28 October, Shoigu said that 82,000 mobilized reservists had already been deployed in the combat zone.
On 12 October 2022, the independent Russian media project
iStories reported that more than 90,000 Russian soldiers had been killed, seriously wounded or gone missing in Ukraine, citing sources close to the Kremlin.
On 23 October 2022, Shoigu said, without providing evidence, that Ukraine could escalate the war with a
dirty bomb—or an explosive that contains
radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...
material. The UK, US and French governments rejected what they called "Russia's transparently false allegations" against Ukraine, adding: "The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation."
On 1 November 2022, Shoigu admitted that the Russian military was
destroying Ukrainian energy facilities. On 6 December 2022, he said that Russian forces are "inflicting massive strikes" on Ukraine.
On 21 December 2022, Shoigu said that the war in Ukraine would continue in 2023 "until the tasks are completed". He declared that victory was "inevitable" and claimed that Russian troops were fighting what he called "neo-Nazism and terrorism".
On 18 April 2023, Shoigu met with Chinese Defence Minister
Li Shangfu in Moscow. Shoigu said that their countries' military cooperation was a "stabilising" force in the world. They discussed expanding military cooperation.
On 28 April 2023, he met with Indian Minister of Defence
Rajnath Singh
Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician and lecturer who is serving the Defence Minister of India since 20 May 2019. He was also the Deputy Leader of the House, Lok Sabha since 2014. He also served the Home Minister in th ...
as part of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian politics, political, economy, economic, international security and Defence (military), defence organization of ten member states. It was established in 2001 by the China, People's Republic ...
defence ministers' meeting in
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
, India.

On 6 June 2023, Shoigu said that Ukrainian "offensive attempts were thwarted, the enemy was stopped, Russian soldiers and officers showed courage and heroism in the battles", while claiming Ukraine had suffered "significant and incomparable casualties". On 20 June 2023, Shoigu stated that the
Ukrainian counteroffensive began on June 4, and since then Ukraine had launched 263 attacks on Russian positions, all of which have been unsuccessful, and that Russian forces had lost no territory or settlements. The statement, which is directly contradictory to publicly available information, has been assessed by the ISW as "even-keeled" and an adaption to Russian command strategy following the chaos in the Russian information space during the
Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine. and
Kherson counteroffensives of 2022.
In July 2023, the UK Ministry of Defense reported that Russia had suffered an average of around 400 casualties per day for 17 months. As of July 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense was still keeping secret the actual
number of casualties.
In July 2023, Shoigu and a Chinese delegation led by
Communist Party Politburo member
Li Hongzhong
Li Hongzhong (; born 13 August 1956) is a Chinese politician, who is currently the first-ranking vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party.
Born in ...
arrived in
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
for the 70th anniversary of the end of the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. He met with North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...
and North Korean Defense Minister
Kang Sun-nam.
On 23 April 2024, Shoigu’s deputy
Timur Ivanov was arrested for taking bribes.
Falling out with Wagner
On 5 May 2023,
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
chief
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a ...
blamed Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov for "tens of thousands" of Wagner
casualties, saying "Shoigu, Gerasimov, where ... is the ammunition? They came here as volunteers and are dying so you can sit like fat cats in your luxury offices."
In a video released on 23 June 2023 at the start of the
Wagner Group rebellion, Prigozhin said that
Russian government justifications for the Russian invasion of Ukraine were based on lies. He accused the Russian Defense Ministry under Shoigu of "trying to deceive society and the president and tell us how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO". According to Prigozhin, "Shoigu killed thousands of the most combat-ready Russian soldiers in the first days of the war. The mentally ill scumbags decided 'It's okay, we'll throw in a few thousand more Russian men as 'cannon fodder'. 'They'll die under artillery fire, but we'll get what we want'."
Despite being the target of Prigozhin's ire, Shoigu made no public appearances during the incident, leading Russian media to speculate that he had lost Putin's confidence and that his removal had been a condition of the agreement that ended the rebellion on 24 June. However, on 26 June, the Russian Ministry of Defence published a video allegedly showing Shoigu meeting Russian officers in Ukraine.
Secretary of the Security Council
On 12 May 2024, soon after
Putin's re-election, Shoigu replaced
Nikolai Patrushev as
Secretary
A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
of the
Security Council of the Russian Federation.
According to analysts, the replacement of Sergei Shoigu by
Andrey Belousov as defense minister signals that Putin is preparing for a long
war of attrition
The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970.
Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...
against Ukraine.
On 25 June 2024, the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu on charges of alleged war crimes for missile strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
On 5 August 2024 Shoigu visited
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
for high-level meetings with the new
Pezeshkian government, the
General Staff of Iran and members of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
's
Supreme National Security Council.
Sanctions

On 23 February 2022, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
considered Shoigu responsible for actively supporting and implementing actions and policies that undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as the stability or security in Ukraine. Therefore the European Union added Shoigu to the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 269/2014.
On 25 February 2022, following
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
added Shoigu to the
Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List
The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...
.
Shoigu was sanctioned by the
UK government in 2022 in relation to the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
.
On 28 February 2022, the
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
"further amended its
Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
* Special police forces
Mi ...
to add eighteen members of the
Security Council of the Russian Federation responsible for" Russian actions in Ukraine, "including President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Justice
Konstantin Chuychenko, and Finance Minister
Anton Siluanov".
Personal life

According to ''
The Siberian Times'', Shoigu is a
polyglot who is known to speak eight languages other than Russian fluently, including English, Japanese, Chinese,
Tuvan, and Turkish.
Family
Sergei Shoigu was born to Kuzhuget Sereevich Shoigu (1921–2010) and Alexandra Yakovlevna Shoigu (née Kudryavtseva, 1924–2011).
His father was born Shoigu Seree oglu Kuzhuget. His name order was changed because of a passport error, according to the Tuva official line. More likely, he Russified the name from Turkic ''oglu'' 'son of...'. Kuzhuget was an editor of a regional newspaper. He later worked in the Communist Party and for the Soviet authorities. He was the secretary of the
Tuva Party Committee. He retired with the rank of first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the
Tuva ASSR
The Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ), or the Tuvan ASSR (; ), was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. It was created on 10 October 1961 from the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast. Its territory measured 175,000 square kilometers a ...
.
Shoigu's father led the Tuvan State Archives. He spent six years as the editor of the newspaper ''
Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, 'Truth') is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...
''. He wrote the novels ''Time and People'', ''Feather of the Black Vulture'' (2001), ''Tannu Tuva: the Country of Lakes and Blue Rivers'' (2004).
Shoigu's mother Alexandra was born in the village of Yakovlev in the
Oryol Oblast
Oryol Oblast (), also known as Orlovshchina (), is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Oryol. Population:
Geography
It is loc ...
. From there, shortly before the
Great Patriotic War
The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...
, her family moved to
Kadiivka
Kadiivka () or Stakhanov (), is a city in Alchevsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, Donbas, eastern Ukraine. Residence of Kadiivka urban hromada. It is located on the Komyshuvakha River, a right tributary of the Luhan (river), Luhan. Ukraine renamed the ci ...
in the
Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...
, Ukraine. A
zootechnician, Alexandra was an Honored Worker of Agriculture of the
Republic of Tuva. From 1979 she was the head of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic. She was repeatedly elected deputy of the Supreme Soviet (parliament) of the
Tuva ASSR
The Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ), or the Tuvan ASSR (; ), was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. It was created on 10 October 1961 from the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast. Its territory measured 175,000 square kilometers a ...
. Sergei's great uncle, Seren Kuzhuget, was the commander of the
Tuvan People's Revolutionary Army from 1929 to 1938.
Sergei has two sisters:
Larisa Kuzhugetovna Shoigu (1953–2021), who was a deputy of the
State Duma
The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
; and Irina Zakharova (born 1960), a psychiatrist.
Shoigu married Irina Alexandrovna Shoigu (née Antipina). She is president of the business tourism company Expo-EM. They have two daughters,
Yulia (1977) and Kseniya (1991).
According to
Alexei Navalny
Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...
, Kseniya is suspected to be a figurehead of her father in the ownership of a palace in the outskirts of Moscow, valued at about £12 million. In 2012, the estate was transferred to the formal ownership of Yelena Antipina. Following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, Kseniya posted a video on social media of her daughter and herself wearing the colours of the
Ukrainian flag. According to the
US Department of the Treasury, Kseniya Shoigu "made tens of millions of dollars on state construction projects and has business interests directly tied to the Ministry of Defence".
In May 2023, Wagner chief
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a ...
condemned the
luxurious lifestyle of the children of Russia's top officials and in particular singled out Shoigu's son-in-law for not joining the Russian army.
In August 2023, it was announced that Shoigu's daughter and her husband Stolyarov had separated, allegedly at the instigation of Shoigu and Putin.
Shoigu is alleged to have an affair with Elena Shebunova from the early 2000s until 2017.
According to similar sources, allegedly Shoigu and Shebunova have three children: Danila (2001), Dasha (2008), and Stepan (2011).
Danila is pursuing a music career under the stage-name Sheba (or Sheba Singer).
Hobbies
Shoigu enjoys studying the
history of Russia
The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in the year 862, ruled by Varangians. In 882, Prin ...
, especially
Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
's time and the era between 1812 and 1825 (which includes the
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...
and the
Decembrist revolt
The Decembrist revolt () was a failed coup d'état led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on , following the death of Emperor Alexander I.
Alexander's brother and heir ...
).
Shoigu collects Indian, Chinese, and Japanese swords and daggers. He enjoys
bard songs and plays the guitar. He does water color paintings and graphics. He enjoys carpentry, and has shown some of his work to
Putin.
Religion
Shoigu stated in 2008 that he was baptized in the
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
at the age of five, rebutting rumors that he was a practitioner of
shamanism
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
or Buddhism like many Tuvans.
In 2023, the largest 12-story
Buddhist monastery in Russia, Thubten Shedrub Ling, opened in
Kyzyl
Kyzyl ( ) is the capital city of the Republic of Tuva within the Russian Federation. Kyzyl's population is approximately
History
The city was founded in 1914 as Belotsarsk. It was renamed Hem-Beldir from 1918 to 1926. When the city was the ca ...
, built on the initiative of Sergei Shoigu with financial support from the foundation named after him.
Honours
Russian
*
Hero of the Russian Federation
*
Order of St Andrew with swords
*
Order of Merit for the Fatherland 1st class
*
Order of Merit for the Fatherland 2nd class
*
Order of Merit for the Fatherland 3rd class
*
Order of Alexander Nevsky
*
Order of Honour
*
Order for Personal Courage (USSR)
*
Medal "For the Return of Crimea"
*
Medal Defender of a Free Russia
*
Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"
*
Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg"
*
Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan"
*
Three Medals "For Strengthening Military Cooperation" (Ministry of Defence)
*
Medal "For Diligence in Engineering Tasks" (Ministry of Defence)
*
Medal "200 Years of the Ministry of Defence" (Ministry of Defence)
* Medal of Great Awareness in Geo-political Affairs (Foreign Ministry)
*
Medal "200 Years of the Ministry of Internal Affairs" (MVD)
* Medal "For Merit of the Stavropol Territory"
* Honoured Rescue Worker of the Russian Federation
* Order of Rightitude (Ministry of Internal Affairs – for services to being correct on the territory of the Russian Federation)
* Order of "Merit of the Altai Territory"
* Honorary Citizen of
Kemerovo Oblast
Kemerovo Oblast (, ), also known as Kuzbass (, ), after the Kuznetsk Basin, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Kemerovo is the administrative center and largest city of the oblast. Kemerovo Oblast is one of Rus ...
* Honorary Citizen of
Tula Oblast
Tula Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an Oblasts of Russia, oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in European Russia and is administratively part of the Central Federal District, covering an area of . It has a ...
Foreign
* Medal of the Order of Courage (Abkhazia)
* First Class of the
Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan)
* Medal of the Order "Danaker" (
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
)
* Military Class of the
Order pro Merito Melitensi
* Medal of the
Order of the Red Banner (Mongolia)
* Grand Commander of the
Order of the Union of Burma (Myanmar) ''Sithu'' class
* Grand Cross with silver star of the Order of Ruben Dario (
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
)
* First Class of the
Order of the Serbian Flag (Serbia)
* Medal of the
Uatsamonga Order (South Ossetia)
* Military Commonwealth Medal (
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
)
* Medal of the
Friendship Order (Vietnam)
See also
*
List of Heroes of the Russian Federation
Notes
References
External links
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoigu, Sergei
1955 births
20th-century Russian military personnel
20th-century Russian politicians
21st-century Russian military personnel
Anti-Americanism
Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia
Communist Party of the Soviet Union members
Ministers of defence of Russia
Deputy heads of government of the Russian Federation
Generals of the army (Russia)
Governors of Moscow Oblast
Heroes of the Russian Federation
Independent politicians in Russia
Living people
People from Dzun-Khemchiksky District
People of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
Pro-Russian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class
Recipients of the Order "For Personal Courage"
Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)
Russian civil engineers
Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions
Russian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions
Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions
Russian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russian people of Ukrainian descent
Russian political party founders
Soviet military personnel
Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List
Tuvan people
United Russia politicians
Fugitives wanted by the International Criminal Court
Fugitives wanted on war crimes charges
Fugitives wanted on crimes against humanity charges
Secretaries of the Security Council (Russia)