Russian Defense Minister disappears from public eye for 12 days
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu has stopped appearing in public since March 11, that is, he has not been seen for 12 days out of 28 that Russian troops have been in Ukraine, said the journalist from the news outlets Mediazona and Agentstvo, Dmitry Treshchanin.
Shoygu's associates are saying that he is unwell and is having heart problems, Shoygu’s friend told Agentstvo.
The Russian Defense Minister was mentioned in a message on the Kremlin's website on March 18, which says that Vladimir Putin discussed with the permanent members of the Security Council "the course of the special operation in Ukraine." Shoygu was allegedly present at the meeting. However, videos and photos from the meeting were not published.
On the same day, the TV Channel Russia 1 aired a story about Shoygu presenting awards to Russian military. The story said that the event occurred "today", but the picture in the article matched the video published on the website of the Russian Defense Ministry on March 11, Agentstvo notes.
Earlier, Shoygu used to appear on Russian TV every few days and it was covered in detail by Russian media.
As noted by Agenstvo, after March 11, there were also no reports of events with the participation of the head of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov. On March 11, TASS reported that Gerasimov held talks with the Turkish Chief of the General Staff, Yasar Guler.