Putin Reshuffles Roscosmos Space Chief

Russian President Vladimir Putin released Dmitry Rogozin from his position as head of the Roscosmos state space agency, the Kremlin announced on Friday.

"Dmitry Rogozin is hereby released from his position as director general of the Roscosmos state space corporation. The decree comes into effect on the day of its signing," the decree reads.

Rogozin, 58, led the corporation for over four years, since late May 2018. Putin replaced him with Yuri Borisov, a deputy prime minister who was in charge of weapons industries.

Meanwhile, Borisov's duties were handed over to Denis Manturov, the minister of industry and trade who was also given the rank of deputy prime minister.

Last month, Putin decreed to dismiss Former Crimean Prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya from her post for criticizing the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Poklonskaya, who served as Russian Ambassador to Cabo Verde from October 2021, was appointed Rossotrudnichestvo deputy chief in early February.

On her Telegram channel, Poklonskaya said that she would be “moving to another job” and thanked the president for his “support and trust.”

The dismissal comes after the former lawmaker condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it a “catastrophe.”

“People are dying, houses and entire cities are destroyed [leaving] millions of refugees. Bodies and souls are mutilated. My heart is bursting with pain,” she said in a video address to an international forum in April. “My two native countries are killing each other, that’s not what I wanted and it’s not what I want.”