RBC: Senator Ozerov left the Federation Council committee due to “pressure” from the Ministry of Defense

Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Ozerov decided to leave his post due to "pressure" from the Ministry of Defense, RBC reports , citing a source in the upper house of parliament and an interlocutor close to Ozerov.

According to the interlocutor of the publication, Ozerov had "tense relations" with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. An acquaintance of the head of the committee said that Ozerov was “not very submissive,” and Shoigu did not welcome this. It is noted that employees of the military department discussed important initiatives not with the committee headed by Ozerov, but with the head of the committee on constitutional legislation Andrei Klishas.

“The last months of the senator were literally broken on the knee, so he decided, as a decent person, to play his card first and leave on his own,” a source in the Federation Council said.

The interlocutor of RBC calls the “last straw” for Ozerov the uncoordinated appointment of Viktor Bondarev, commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, to his place. In an interview with RBC, Ozerov himself confirmed that he had learned about this from the media. However, he did not comment on the conflict with the Ministry of Defense, noting that he had long ago decided to leave his post.

Earlier in Thursday, it became known that Viktor Ozerov wrote a letter of resignation from the post of head of the committee on defense and security. The senator's term expired in September 2019. He has chaired the Defense and Security Committee since 2001.

The senator was one of the authors of the antiterrorist amendments adopted last year (the so-called "Yarovaya package").