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    For just a few seconds on Thursday, Sergei Shoigu was back on Russians’ television

    screens, sitting in the corner box of a teleconference with Vladimir Putin.

    The Russian defence minister, arguably the man most responsible for the floundering
    war effort in Ukraine, had not been seen in public for 12 days. Nor had the chief
    of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, Valery Gerasimov.

    Rumours were beginning to circulate that they may have been punished over the
    bungled invasion, which has failed to capture key Ukrainian cities such as Kharkiv
    or Kyiv and plunged Russia into economic isolation.

    Russians had already watched Putin browbeat and humiliate the head of the country’s
    foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, during a televised meeting over the
    fate of the Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine.

    Journalists have since filed reports on an investigation in the FSB directorate


    responsible for foreign intelligence, including on Ukraine, and on the arrest of a
    senior official from Russia’s national guard.

    It is unclear if any of those events are related to Russia’s war in Ukraine, an


    effort that is going according to plan, a Russian foreign ministry official said on
    Thursday. For many Russians, however, it is apparent that the war is not going to
    plan, and the expectation among Kremlin watchers is that men such as Shoigu could
    shoulder the blame.

    Within an information vacuum, the rumours about Putin’s anger at his subordinates
    has also remained just that.

    Agentstvo, an independent Russian news website, said a source had told it that
    Shoigu, one of the most trusted men in the nation according to opinion polling, had
    heart problems.

    By Thursday, the matter was being brought up at a daily press call held by the
    Kremlin.

    “The defence minister has a lot to deal with right now, as you can understand,”
    Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said during a briefing, denying Shoigu was
    ill. “A special military operation is ongoing. Certainly, now isn’t exactly the
    right time for media activities. This is quite understandable.”

    Sensing a problem, the Kremlin promptly returned Shoigu to television. The clip
    released on Thursday was unusual: a security council teleconference with Vladimir
    Putin, where Shoigu was said to have reported “progress in the special military
    operation and efforts being made by the military to provide humanitarian aid,
    ensure security, and restore vital infrastructure on the liberated territories”.

    But you wouldn’t know that because the sound was turned off. And Shoigu appeared
    for just seconds, as his camera was briefly unblocked to reveal him sitting in
    front of several Russian flags at an undisclosed location. His arm moved, proving
    it wasn’t just a picture of the defence minister returned to television to dispel
    rumours about his demise.

    And then, just as quickly, he was gone again.

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