Putin can't fire his inept defense minister after the Wagner uprising, so he sent Sergei Shoigu to 'break bread and glad hand' in North Korea instead, expert says

• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea this week.
• An expert on Russia told Insider that the trip is a "hazing-level job" handed down by Putin.
• Shoigu has been a lightning rod for criticism amid Russia's struggling war, but Putin can't fire him.

The man overseeing Russia's ongoing war effort in Ukraine was far from the frontlines this week carrying out President Vladimir Putin's dirty work in North Korea instead.