closer to the window.

He's now the head of their Security Council. Big title, small job, no potential to skim millions off the budget. He's lost everything except a job title and salary. No word on the guy who held his job, Nikolai Patrushev. It might be a protective move on Putin's part, reportedly they're good friends and sending Patrushev to his dacha to cool his heels until after the next disaster wouldn't be a bad thing.

Or he might wind up in the catbird seat, you never can tell.

We knew this was coming when Shoigu's two top loyalists were canned, one with a penny ante (for Russia) bribery charge.

Konstantin over at Inside Russia is speculating Shoigu is being kept on as the natural fall guy as soon as Putin croaks, the guy whose signaturre is on every war document. Gerasimov has been seen only casting a vote in March, reports are that he doesn't look well.

Reportedly, Shoigu's replacement, Andrei Belousov, is more of a money guy and his job will be trying to squeeze more work for less money from Russian manufacturers, trying to keep the war machine running smoothly.

Dunno about most of this, it's hard to figure what's really going on in a system that's murky, at best, and subject to the whims of a madman who has gained ultimate power....for a while.

Better double that popcorn supply, kids, we've now got 2 authoritarian assholes to keep an eye on as they both come apart at the seams.