President Vladimir Putin appointed a number of ex-ministers and longtime allies to positions in his administration Tuesday, a move expected to shift power to the Kremlin and weaken Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's new government.
Putin reappointed Sergei Ivanov, a former deputy prime minister and defense minister, as head of the presidential administration and laid out a list outlining the makeup of the new administration, according to a decree published on the Kremlin website.
Vyacheslav Volodin will continue to perform the role of first deputy chief of staff that he took over from Kremlin ideologist Vladislav Surkov in December, and Alexei Gromov will join him as an additional first deputy chief of staff.
Former Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev joined the administration as a deputy to presidential Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, who retained his position.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is now the official Kremlin spokesman, as well as a deputy head of the administration.
Other heavy-hitting political figures appointed as administration aides and advisors include former Transport Minister Igor Levitin, ex-Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova, former Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina, former Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yuri Trutnev, and former Education Minister Andrei Fursenko.
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