Amid questions over his whereabouts after dropping out of public view for days in the midst of war with Ukraine, Russia’s powerful defence minister resurfaced in a short snippet of video footage aired by state media on Thursday.
The absence of Sergei Shoigu, said to be a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, sparked rumours regarding his whereabouts with some reports saying that he was suffering from heart problems.
Shoigu on Thursday appeared for a few in a split screen of top officials during a virtual meeting with Putin in footage aired by Russia’s RIA news agency.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov played down speculation about Shoigu’s whereabouts on Thursday, saying that he had a lot on his plate and it was understandable he was not devoting a lot of time to media appearances, news agency Reuters reported.
“The defence minister has a lot on his mind right now. A special military operation is underway. Now is not really the time for media activity,” Peskov said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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