Vladimir Putin has made a significant change in the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense by firing four deputy defense ministers and at the same time appointing his cousin’s daughter to one of the new positions. The fired deputy defense ministers are Nikolai Pankov, Ruslan Tsalikov, Tatiana Shevtsova, and Pavel Popov, according to Reuters. The president’s plan, however, is not to reduce the number of deputy defense ministers; on the contrary, he will expand the number to 12, writes Dagbladet referring to the Russian news agency Tass. Among the new faces in the ministry is Anna Tsivileva, who is the daughter of Putin’s cousin. Despite the family connection, she will not be the highest-ranking deputy defense minister. That position is given to Leonid Gornin, who previously served as deputy finance minister and will now become the first deputy defense minister under Defense Minister Andrei Belousov. Another newly appointed deputy defense minister is Pavel Fradkov, the son of former Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Anna Tsivileva, who is married to Russia’s energy minister Sergey Tsivilev, will be responsible for improving housing and social benefits for the Russian troops according to Bloomberg.

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