State Department on Shoigu's sacking: Putin desperately want to sustain war

Despite serious problems in Russia’s economy, as well as a combat death toll and a massive loss of weapons and equipment, Putin desperately seeks to continue aggression against Ukraine.

That’s according to Deputy Spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Vedant Patel, who spoke at a briefing on Monday, commenting on Putin's decision to dismiss Sergei Shoigu from Defense Minister’s post.

"This is a further indication of Putin's desperation to sustain his war of aggression against Ukraine," said the representative from the U.S. State Department.

He emphasized that the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin not only seriously depleted Russia’s economy but also led to heavy losses of Russian troops.

At the same time, Patel recalled that it was Russia that had unleashed an unprovoked war against Ukraine. According to him, Putin could stop it at any moment by withdrawing troops from Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russian President Putin pitched former First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov to the position of Minister of Defense to replace Sergei Shoigu, who had headed the ministry since 2012.