Putin Names His Ex-Bodyguard As Head Of Russia’s State Council

On Wednesday, the Kremlin announced that President Vladimir Putin had named Alexei Dyumin, an aide and former bodyguard, as secretary of the State Council.

After being re-elected for another six-year term earlier this year, Putin appointed Dyumin as an aide specializing in the defence industry and the Kremlin stated that he will have other tasks.

A decree signed by Putin assigning him to the State Council role was published on the Kremlin’s website on Wednesday morning.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, stated earlier this month that many people believed that Putin envisaged Dyumin as his successor.

Putin, 71, is beginning a new six-year term and is likely to rule for many years to come, with no reliable information on who he may choose to follow him.

However, the name of Dyumin, among others, has long been a source of curiosity among Moscow’s political elites.

Dyumin, 51, was appointed to the Kremlin earlier this month after serving as a regional governor of Tula, Russia.

Dyumin joined Russia’s Federal Guards Service (FSO), which protects the Kremlin elite, in 1995 and guarded Putin for his first and second mandates. He also served as the GRU’s deputy head.

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