What will happen at the meeting of the Ministry of Defense with the participation of Vladimir Putin

Today, Vladimir Putin will sum up the military results of 2014 at the expanded board of the Ministry of Defense and outline the tasks for 2015. According to Kommersant's information, the president will evaluate the results of surprise checks of troops, note the importance of increasing the defense capability of Crimea, note the approach of NATO infrastructure to Russian borders, and also sum up the implementation of the state defense order. For the first time, the board will take place not at the General Staff Academy, but in the building of the newly built National Defense Management Center (NDCM).

Photo: Dmitry Azarov, Kommersant / buy photo

The Supreme Commander-in-Chief is expected in the building on Frunzenskaya Embankment at 13:00 Moscow time, as indicated in the plan for holding an extended meeting of the board (a copy of the document is available to Kommersant). Mr. Putin will be met by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. And the head of the NTSUO, Mikhail Mizintsev, will demonstrate to the president the capabilities of the center, which went on combat duty on December 1. In real time, in particular, Mr. Putin will be shown the situation in some military units. According to the military's calculations, the next three hours will be devoted to a meeting on the implementation of the mobilization plan "as an integral part of the defense plan of the Russian Federation." At about 16:00 Moscow time, the president will go to the conference hall of the National Center for Educational Institutions, where he will open the meeting of the board. Then Mr. Shoigu will summarize the main results of 2014. As several officers in the Ministry of Defense told Kommersant, “Sergei Kuzhugetovich wanted everything to go without a hitch, and therefore everyone began rehearsing for the board meeting several weeks ago.”

According to a Kommersant source in the minister’s office, the range of topics in the speeches of the president and the head of the military department this year will be standard. These are the results of unscheduled checks of the army's combat readiness and the results of the Vostok-2014 exercises, strengthening military positions in the Arctic, providing military personnel with official and permanent housing, strengthening the Southern Military District, taking into account the entry of Crimea into Russia, staffing the army with contract soldiers, as well as strengthening the presence of NATO in territories bordering Russia. The implementation of the state defense order will also be discussed: we note that on the same day, under the supervision of Deputy Minister for Armaments Yuri Borisov, a single day of acceptance of military products will take place.

Not only the location of the collegium will change - it traditionally took place in the building of the Academy of the General Staff - but also the format. In particular, after the opening words of the President and the Minister, the analytical film report “Russian Army 2014” will be shown to all those present (according to Kommersant, the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff participated in its creation). After the film show, the Minister of Defense will set tasks for the leadership of the military department for 2015, and Vladimir Putin will make a ten-minute closing speech. As the Kremlin reported yesterday, the president will conclude his visit to the NTSUO with a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council.

The closed part of the board will be held by Valery Gerasimov, who will talk about ensuring the combat effectiveness of troops in modern conditions. Next, First Deputy Minister Arkady Bakhin (will talk about the results of combat training), State Secretary Nikolai Pankov (on increasing the attractiveness of military service), Anatoly Antonov (on international cooperation) and Yuri Borisov (on the implementation of state defense orders) will make presentations. The panel will be completed by Dmitry Bulgakov (material and technical support for troops), Pavel Popov (creation of centers for managing daily activities in military districts), Ruslan Tsalikov (on the progress of construction of facilities, certification of towns and release of unused property) and Tatyana Shevtsova (on approaches to increasing economic efficiency of budget expenditures).

The event should end around 20:00 Moscow time.

Ivan Safronov

The President will be received as scheduled