Alexandra Shoigu grew up in the Donbas town of Kadiivka and had traumatizing experiences while under detention of the German occupation forces during World War II.

In 1990, Shoigu moved to Moscow from Siberia, and was appointed deputy chairman of the State Architecture and Construction Committee of the Russian Federation,[11] assisted by his father's connections.

[8] Under Shoigu, the responsibilities of the ministry were expanded to take over the Russian State Fire Service in 2002, making the MChS Russia's third-largest force structure.

Unity allowed for the rise of Vladimir Putin to president and in 2001 was combined into the ruling United Russia party, although Shoigu was the only delegate to vote against the merger.

[20] On 6 November 2012, Shoigu was appointed Minister of Defence by Putin, succeeding Anatoly Serdyukov, who had implemented sweeping reforms of the Russian Armed Forces in response to performance in the Russo-Georgian War.

[21] As defence minister, Shoigu on multiple occasions accompanied Putin during weekend breaks that the pair would spend at undisclosed locations in the Siberian countryside.

This included the creation of the Special Operations Forces Command to facilitate rapid intervention in conflicts within the perceived Russian sphere of influence and counterterrorism efforts.

Serdyukov's goals of increasing the share of the Russian Armed Forces made up of professional contract servicemen rather than conscripts continued under Shoigu.

However, the demographic challenge of a decreasing pool of military-aged and -eligible males forced him to increase national conscription quotas in early 2013, including even North Caucasians perceived as a security risk by authorities such as Chechens.

[32] The Ukrainian authorities alleged that Shoigu coordinated all of DPR Supreme Commander Igor Girkin's actions, supplying him and "other terrorist leaders" with "the most destructive weapons" since May and instructing him directly, with Putin's approval.

"[34] In July 2018 Shoigu warned that the Poroshenko administration of Ukraine was not fulfilling the Minsk agreements which were signed in order to end the war in Donbas.

On 16 December 2015, speaking to the members of the State Duma behind closed doors, Shoigu mentioned the possibility of the Russian forces "reaching the Euphrates" in Syria.

[36] In June 2016, Russia Today, while reporting minister Shoigu's visit to Hmeymim air base, showed RBK-500 ZAB-2.5SM incendiary cluster bombs being loaded onto Russian airplanes.

[42] On 26 December 2017, Shoigu said that Russia had set about "forming a permanent grouping" at the Tartus naval facility and the Hmeymim airbase, after Putin approved their structure and personnel strength.

Russia's defence minister the following day blamed Israel's military for the accident[46][47] and re-affirmed its stance in a minute-by-minute report presented on 23 September.

[56] In an August 2021 "Solovyov Live" YouTube channel interview, Shoigu said referring to his tenure in the Ministry that "The requirements for fulfilling the defense procurement plan have risen dramatically.

[67][68] Also on 13 May, former FSB officer and former DPR Supreme Commander Igor Girkin harshly criticized Shoigu, accusing him of "criminal negligence" in conducting the invasion.

[74] The Russia-installed governor of Ukraine's Kherson region Kirill Stremousov said in a video shared on social media that "Many are saying that the Defense Minister – who allowed things to come to this – should simply shoot himself like a [real] officer.

[80] However, some of the mobilized Russian men were killed less than two weeks after being drafted, meaning conscripted civilians are being sent to a combat zone without basic military training.

[92] On 6 June 2023, Shoigu said that Ukrainian "offensive attempts were thwarted, the enemy was stopped, Russian soldiers and officers showed courage and heroism in the battles", while claiming Ukraine had suffered "significant and incomparable casualties".

[96] In July 2023, Shoigu and a Chinese delegation led by Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong arrived in North Korea for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.

[102] He accused the Russian Defense Ministry under Shoigu of "trying to deceive society and the president and tell us how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO".

"[104] Despite being the target of Prigozhin's ire, Shoigu made no public appearances during the incident, leading Russian media to speculate that he had lost Putin's confidence and that his removal had been a condition of the agreement that ended the rebellion on 24 June.

[106][107] According to analysts, the replacement of Sergei Shoigu by Andrey Belousov as defense minister signals that Putin is preparing for a long war of attrition against Ukraine.

[108] On 25 June 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu on charges of alleged war crimes for missile strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Therefore the European Union added Shoigu to the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 269/2014.

[113] On 25 February 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United States added Shoigu to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.

[116] According to The Siberian Times, Shoigu is a polyglot who is known to speak eight languages other than Russian fluently, including English, Japanese, Chinese, Tuvan, and Turkish.

[126] According to the US Department of the Treasury, Kseniya Shoigu "made tens of millions of dollars on state construction projects and has business interests directly tied to the Ministry of Defence".

[127] In May 2023, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin condemned the luxurious lifestyle of the children of Russia's top officials and in particular singled out Shoigu's son-in-law Alexey Stolyarov [ru] for not joining the Russian army.