Russian President Vladimir Putin today promoted his former bodyguard, Alexei Dyumin, to a member of Russia’s powerful Security Council.

The appointment of Dumin and three other new members of the security council was announced by presidential decree.

In May 2024, Putin appointed Dyumin as his aide in charge of overseeing the defense industry, and later that month appointed him secretary of the advisory State Council, a step that fueled speculation about Dyumin’s prospects in presidential circles.

Who is Dumin?

He was born on August 28, 1972 in Kursk. His father was a military doctor and his mother a teacher.

In 1995 he entered the Federal Guard Service (FSO). He was responsible for the security of both President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

From August 1999, he was in the presidential bodyguard service during Putin’s first and second terms.

“I was part of a group of officers who ensured the president’s security everywhere – in Russia and abroad,” Dumin said. “Every morning began with a briefing to the president on operational objectives. There had to be information about the areas, for emergency situations. Sometimes I had to give instructions to the minister, to assign a task to the head of the region.”

In 2012, he was appointed deputy head of the presidential guard. In 2014 he was appointed deputy head of the GRU (Russian military intelligence). He was one of the key people behind the annexation of Crimea. In 2015, he became Deputy Minister of Defense.

In 2016 he was elected governor of the Tula region.