Furious Putin shows his rage as he publicly humiliates the hapless deputy prime minister

Vladimir Putin showed his anger at the collapse of Russia’s economy and the failure of the war effort on Thursday when he publicly humiliated one of the deputy prime ministers and rocked his top command again.

The angry despot criticized Denis Manturov in a government video conference for failing to procure military and civilian aircraft.

He accused him of fooling around after the politician, deputy prime minister and trade and industry minister, flew to NATO country Turkey on holiday over the New Year.

The video shows an aggrieved Putin declaring: ‘There are no contracts. What are you going to tell me? I know that there are no contracts in companies, the directors told me.

‘Why are you really kidding?’

He told the hapless minister he had a month to sort out the mess that has led to a shortage of military planes for the air force and a failure to supply civilian businesses hit by Western sanctions with new planes.

Putin burst in: ‘All this must be done within a month, I ask you, within a month… Do we not understand what conditions we are living in?’

The punished Manturov was seen bowing his head.

Putin also shook his military command structure for the umpteenth time during the war with Ukraine.

He made the war commander, General Sergei Surovikin, subordinate to the chief of the general staff, General Valery Gerasimov, to control the armed forces in the war.

The move appeared to bolster the much-criticized Gerasimov’s position amid growing resentment and dissent in the military.

Surovikin, also known as General Armageddon, was named his deputy in an announcement made not by Putin but by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has also faced strong criticism.

“The increase in the leadership level of the special operation is related to the expansion of the scale of the tasks to be performed and the need for closer interaction between the troops,” the Defense Ministry said.

Putin urgently needs a bigger victory than the seizure of Soledar which, if confirmed, has been carried out by the Wagner private army, made up mainly of prisoners, rather than the regular armed forces.

Putin’s change in the high command secures the position of Gerasimov, seen as a loyalist with no political ambitions, while reining in the power of others, perhaps including Surovikin, who want to nullify Putin in warfare tactics.

Two other loyal generals, Oleg Salyukov and Alexei Kim, were also appointed to the top table.