Questions have been raised in regards to the whereabouts of Russian Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu following stories that he has not been seen in public for practically two weeks, regardless of being accountable for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Agentstvo [The Agency], a Russian unbiased investigative information outlet which goals to reveal authorities corruption, reported on Telegram how one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies final appeared on state-run tv on March 11.

Agentstvo, citing an unnamed official, speculated that Shoigu could also be unwell and affected by coronary heart issues though the company couldn't affirm that.

In a prolonged put up on the messaging service app, Agentstvo reported that Channel One aired a narrative on March 18 about Shoigu presenting at an awards present that day. Nonetheless, the picture used as an instance the story allegedly got here from a video posted on Russia's Ministry of Protection web site on March 11.

Shoigu was talked about on the Kremlin's web site on March 18 in a passage about Putin assembly with members of his Safety Council to talk about the continuing battle in Ukraine. Whereas Shoigu was reported to be current on the assembly, no photos or video of him had been revealed on the location.

Shoigu, 66, is claimed to not have been seen with Putin since he attended a gathering with the Russian president and chief of the overall workers Valery Gerasimov in Moscow on February 27, simply days after the Ukraine invasion started.

Shoigu's profile on the Ministry of Protection web site has additionally not been up to date since March 11.

Russian forces have met unexpectedly stiff resistance from the Ukrainian army since invading their neighbor on Feb. 24. Britain's Ministry of Defence stated in an intelligence replace this week that the Russian advance on the capital Kyiv from the northeast had stalled, though heavy preventing continues in different elements of the nation.

As famous by Agentstvo, Shoigu is normally a distinguished determine by way of media appearances for the Kremlin and helped push a marketing campaign to enhance the Protection Ministry's public picture when he was put accountable for the division in 2012.

On Tuesday, Dmitry Treschanin, a Russian journalist at unbiased outlet Mediazona, additionally famous that the final article about Shoigu to seem on Russian state information company RIA was on March 11.

"Hear, the good PR minister Shoigu has been out of public area since March eleventh. ELEVEN DAYS OF WAR, we wouldn't have the top of the Ministry of Protection," Treschanin tweeted.

Jake Cordell, a reporter for The Moscow Instances, talked about how there's "a number of Telegram chatter" in regards to the whereabouts of Shoigu.

"Not seen in public for 12 days, not seen with Putin since *that* assembly on 27 Feb the place he was ordered to place the nukes on excessive alert," Cordell tweeted earlier than sharing a picture of Shoigu and Putin "from happier instances" the place the pair are on trip collectively.

It's also reported that Gerasimov, chief of the overall workers of Russia's armed forces, has not been seen in public since March 11.

Newsweek has not been in a position to independently confirm the stories. Russia's Protection Ministry has been contacted for remark.

missing Sergei Shoigu
Russian Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu delivers a speech throughout the United Russia Occasion Congress, on August 24,2021, in Moscow, Russia. There are stories that the top-Putin ally has not been seen in public since March 11. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Pictures