Putin has forced Russia’s economy and society on to a war footing. War has been normalised in the country. Appointing an economist as defence minister highlights this mental shift.

With Putin feeling confident about his armies’ performance on the battlefield in Ukraine, he has been able to make overdue changes to his top team.

Belousov replaces Sergei Shoigu as defence minister. Shoigu was also a civilian, but after his appointment in 2012, he took on the rank of general and strutted around in various uniforms with rows of medals stuck to his chest.

Expect Belousov to take a very different, numbers-driven approach to Shoigu.

Recently Belousov has taken charge of drone projects, pushing through plans to build more of the key weapons and train more operators. He also reportedly has a good personal relationship with Putin.

Gen Shoigu has been shunted sideways to become the secretary of Russia’s powerful National Security Council, pushing out Nikolai Patrushev, the 72-year-old hawk who advises more conflict with Nato.

And there is the elephant in the room, the sullen General Valery Gerasimov, who is head of the Russian military. He survived the reshuffle, despite all the criticism aimed at him over the Russian military’s performance in Ukraine. Just like Shoigu, he must now be wondering how long he has left on the job.