Vladimir Putin reappoints Mikhail Mishustin as Russia’s prime minister
- Reappointment follows Putin’s inauguration on Tuesday for a fifth term as president
- Mishustin was appointed prime minister in January 2020, replacing Dmitry Medvedev
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the reappointment on Friday of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, a technocrat who has helped him through the war in Ukraine and the economic challenges wreaked by Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion.
The Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, approved the nomination of the low-key Mishustin on the same day.
There is virtually no opposition in the Russian parliament, which has supported Putin in all his decisions, including the February 2022 invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbour.
Deputies from the nominally opposition Communist Party abstained from voting rather than vote against Mishustin.
As dictated by law, the government resigned just before Putin, Russia’s paramount leader for nearly a quarter of a century, was sworn-in for another six-year term on Tuesday after winning in a landslide re-election in March.
There is no indication that Putin plans a big reshuffle of the government, which includes veteran Sergei Shoigu, in charge of Russia’s defence since 2012, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in charge of Russia’s diplomacy for two decades.
