INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Kremlin said Thursday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was too busy for public appearances, as his absence from view for
nearly two weeks prompted questions from journalists.Shoigu, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, reportedly last appeared in public on
health problems.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to quell such rumors however, telling journalists: "The defence minister has a lot to
take care of at the moment
There is a special military operation going on.""This is not the moment for media activity," he added.The Kremlin said Thursday that Shoigu
had informed Putin on the latest developments in Ukraine.The defense minister, 66, usually features regularly on state television broadcasts
and has been filmed going on expeditions into the Siberian wilderness with Putin.Russian officials' absences often prompt rumors of illness,
due to the fact that the authorities are reluctant to release such information even if true.Rumours have swirled on several occasions when
Putin has disappeared from public view for a week or more."We would be bored if there were no rumors," he said in 2015 after a 10-day
