Tula Governor Alexei Dyumin has long been the subject of speculation among Moscow’s political elite
Moscow:
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin had appointed Alexei Dyumin, an aide and former bodyguard, as secretary of the State Council, an advisory body to the Russian head of state.
After being re-elected for a new six-year term earlier this year, Putin appointed Dyumin as an assistant specializing in the defense industry and the Kremlin at the time spoke of other responsibilities for him.
On Wednesday morning, a decree signed by Putin appointing him to the role of the State Council was published on the Kremlin website.
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said earlier this month that many people believed Putin saw Dyumin as his successor.
Putin, 71, is starting a new six-year term and is expected to remain in power for years to come. There is no reliable information about who he would like to succeed one day.
But the name Dyumin, among other things, has long been the subject of speculation among Moscow’s political elite.
Dyumin, 51, was brought to the Kremlin earlier this month after serving as regional governor of Russia’s Tula region.
Dyumin joined Russia’s Federal Guard Service (FSO), which ensures the security of the Kremlin elite, in 1995 and guarded Putin during his first and second terms. He has also worked as deputy head of the GRU (Russian Military Intelligence).
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