Vladimir Putin is set to replace his long-standing ally Sergei Shoigu as defence minister.
The Russian president wants Andrei Belousov, a former deputy prime minister who specialises in economics, for the job more than two years into the Ukraine war, the Kremlin said.
Mr Shoigu, who has been defence minister since 2012 and a long-standing ally, is to become the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, replacing incumbent Nikolai Patrushev, it was announced on Sunday.
The news comes as thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been evacuated from towns within miles of the northeastern border with Russia as Moscow forces carried out a renewed attack on the Kharkiv region.
The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration (RMA), Oleh Sinegubov, said on Telegram:
“The enemy is intensifying shelling of Vovchansk. Our Armed Forces soldiers are fighting hard. The northern border of the Kharkiv region is the most difficult area now.” He added more than 5,000 people had been evacuated in the past three days.