Putin Fires Longtime Ally Shoigu As Defense Minister, Names Little-Known Successor

(RFE/RL) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose military has been criticized at home for a perceived lack of progress and heavy losses during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, *announced* that he was replacing longtime ally Sergei Shoigu as defense minister.

The Kremlin said that Shoigu, 66, *would be replaced* by...