Russia's space agency now has a new director general.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently dismissed now-former Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin with Yuri Borisov due to undisclosed reasons but seems to be a part of Putin's efforts to shake up the country's leadership, per Ars Technica.
Rogozin has served as Roscosmos' director general for quite some time, with him starting his service in the space agency in 2011, and has been its chief for almost four years and two months, per Space.com.
Dmitry Rogozin Ousting Details
Putin mentioned in his decree that he was dismissing Rogozin from his post as Director General of the Roscosmos State Space Corporation, but did not provide any reason why he was being ousted.
Furthermore, Putin mentioned that the decree that announces Rogozin's ousting was to come into force from the date of its signing - July 15.
After some time on the same day, Putin released another decree that he was appointing Yury Ivanovich Borisov as Director General to fill in the role left by Rogozin.
Just like his predecessor's ousting decree, Borisov's appointment decree became effective on the same day.
Rogozin's dismissal follows the many inflammatory statements he made toward the US and the West during his tenure as Roscosmos Director General in the first few months of Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.
You may remember that he made threat after threat to the US about Roscosmos leaving the ISS due to the economic sanctions placed by the West against Russia.
He did eventually make good on his threats, with Roscosmos leaving the ISS in early May, ending 53 years of cooperation between the two world superpowers in space.
Recently, Rogozin mentioned that Roscosmos would be utilizing Russia's parts of the space station to carry out tasks it considers "essential and valuable."
These tasks may have included having Russian cosmonauts using flags in anti-Ukraine propaganda while posing for pictures inside the ISS.
Although Putin nor the Kremlin didn't disclose their reason to dismiss Rogozin, it is possible it is part of Putin's efforts to shake up leadership in Russia following his declaration of the "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Despite the dismissal, Russian media believes that Rogozin is still within Putin's good graces and that he could be appointed to a new position or office at a job to oversee Moscow-controlled territories in eastern and southern Ukraine, per Euro News.
Latvia-based new outlet Meduza is also of the same mind, saying that Rogozin can now be reassigned as chief of staff for Putin or even as an administrator overseeing Russian-controlled territories in Ukraine.
Borisov's Resume And Qualifications
The Russian government's official website states that Borisov, 65, has a military background and a Ph.D. in Engineering courtesy of his time as a doctoral student at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
He was an officer of the Soviet and later Russian Armed Forces during the early days of his career and was eventually assigned to Russia's defense ministry to serve as either their head or their head's deputy.
Reuters mentioned in its article that he oversaw military and space affairs, including the production of weapons and equipment.
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