President Vladimir Putin’s former personal security guard and newly appointed presidential aide Alexei Dyumin was tapped to head Russia’s State Council on Wednesday.
“Aide to the president Alexei Dyumin has been appointed Secretary of the State Council of the Russian Federation by presidential executive order,” an announcement on the Kremlin’s website read.
Russia’s State Council is a constitutional body composed of top federal officials and regional governors who advise and coordinate with the president on matters of national importance.
Putin elevated the State Council’s role from a largely ceremonial low-profile advisory body in 2020 constitutional reforms.
Dyumin, an ex-deputy defense minister and deputy head of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, has been rumored to be a potential successor to Putin.
He previously served as governor of the Tula region south of Moscow, a key hub for the military industry, before his appointment as presidential aide earlier this month.
Dyumin’s return to federal politics in Moscow — where he will advise Putin on issues related to the military-industrial complex — coincided with Sergei Shoigu’s firing as defense minister and appointment as head of Russia’s Security Council.
“[Dyumin] will look after the Defense Ministry on the one hand and balance Shoigu [and limit his influence] on the other,” an anonymous government official told The Moscow Times earlier this month.
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