Putin: “Points” to Dyumin as his successor for the presidency

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Alexei Dyumin todayhis former bodyguard, secretary of the advisory Council of State, a move that further fuels speculation that he is earmarking him as his successor in the country’s presidency.

Putin re-elected for another six-year term in March and named Dumin, 51, his defense adviser in May, bringing him to Moscow and closer to the center of power, Reuters analysis said.

“Russia’s elite is dumbfounded by Dyumin’s appointment as secretary of the State Council,” Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser and Putin supporter, told Telegram.

“This is seen as confirmation that Dyumin is the future president of RussiaPutin’s choice,” Markov said, adding that this had been rumored for some time.

There is no public debate or reliable information about who might ultimately succeed Putin, who is 71 and expected to rule for years, but his appointments are garnering attention for possible clues that could reveal the name of the next candidate. for the presidency.

The public recognition of a potential successor, however, poses certain risks in being seen as a challenger to the Russian president, but Dyumin’s name, among others, has long been the subject of speculation among Russia’s political elite.

Putin chairs the council, and there has long been speculation that the new head’s role could become more important.

Under Putin’s 2020 changes, the role of the State Council, which brings together the heads of Russia’s regions, was enshrined in the constitution for the first time. Political analysts felt that this paved the way for it to eventually become a more powerful force.

Sanctions on “Hero of Russia”

Dyumin was born in Kursk, western Russia, in 1972 and is married with one son. Despite his various appearances on state television over the years, he is not a household name among Russians outside the region he ruledbut is well known in political, military and intelligence circles.

Dyumin told the Kommersant newspaper in 2016 how, as one of Putin’s bodyguards, he once used his pistol to scare off a bear at one of the president’s mountain residences while the Russian leader was resting.

A recipient of the highest state award, Hero of Russia, Dyumin joined Russia’s Federal Guard Service, which ensures the security of the Kremlin’s elite, in 1995 and was responsible for Putin’s security during his first and second terms in office.

“I was part of a group of officers who ensured the president’s security everywhere – in Russia and abroad,” Dumin said.

“Every morning started with a report to the president about the operational reports. We have to have information about the regions, about emergencies. Sometimes I had to give instructions to a minister, give tasks to the head of a region.”

Dumin, who has played ice hockey with Putin, was deputy head of the GRU military intelligence service when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. He later served as deputy defense minister and then as governor of Tula, a region that plays a large role in Russia’s military-industrial complex.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Dyumin in 2018, saying he was the head of Special Operations Forces that “played a key role in Russia’s annexation of Crimea.”

Dyumin also appears on a British sanctions list on the grounds that he started a drone training school in 2022 for operators undertaking missions in Ukraine.

“Accordingly, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Dyumin is involved and continues to be involved in destabilizing Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine,” the British Treasury said.