Dmitry Medvedev

Committee tenure: 1990-95

Vladimir Churov

Committee tenure:

1991-2003

Medvedev served as first deputy prime minister before becoming Putin’s handpicked successor in 2008. He served a single four-year term as president, while Putin became prime minister but remained Russia’s most powerful figure. They swapped places when Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, a move that triggered mass opposition protests.

Churov became Russia’s elections chief in 2007, overseeing parliamentary and presidential elections that the OSCE flagged for "serious indications” of ballot stuffing and the mobilization of state media and resources in favor of Putin and the ruling United Russia party. Churov publicly described the principle “Putin is always right” as “Churov’s First Law.”

Numerous men who served under Vladimir Putin on the St. Petersburg mayor's Committee on External Relations in the 1990s rose to powerful positions or became wealthy businessmen after he moved to Moscow and began his political ascent to the presidency. Here’s a look at the prominent committee alumni who ascended to Russia’s ruling class alongside Putin.

Viktor Zubkov

Committee tenure:

1992-93

Igor Sechin

Committee tenure:

1991-96

A former KGB officer like Putin, Sechin has worked closely with Putin since the early 1990s and served as his chief of staff during his first two terms. In 2012, Sechin became the CEO of state-owned Rosneft, which became Russia’s largest oil company after taking over key assets of Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s decimated Yukos empire.

Zubkov worked in government in St. Petersburg until 2001, when he moved to Moscow to become first deputy finance minister. He served as head of the federal financial-monitoring agency before Putin appointed him prime minister in 2007. During Putin’s subsequent four-year stint as prime minister, Zubkov served as his first deputy.

Aleksei Miller

Committee tenure:

1991-96

Yury Shamalov

Committee tenure:

1993-95

Miller has served as Gazprom’s head since 2002, a period in which Russia has wielded the company's gas exports as a political cudgel in foreign relations. British journalist Catherine Belton reported that within Putin’s circle, Miller was given the nickname “Soldat,” or “the soldier” -- a nod to his longtime fealty to Putin.

Shamalov is the eldest son of Nikolai Shamalov, a businessman and Putin’s close friend. Nikolai Shamalov once held the second-largest stake in Bank Rossia, which the U.S. Treasury Department calls the “personal bank” for senior Russian officials. Yury Shamalov’s brother, Kirill, is the ex-husband of Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

Dmitry Medvedev

Committee tenure:

1990-95

Vladimir Churov

Committee tenure:

1991-2003

Medvedev served as first deputy prime minister before becoming Putin’s handpicked successor in 2008. He served a single four-year term as president, while Putin became prime minister but remained Russia’s most powerful figure. They swapped places when Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, a move that triggered mass opposition protests.

Churov became Russia’s elections chief in 2007, overseeing parliamentary and presidential elections that the OSCE flagged for "serious indications” of ballot stuffing and the mobilization of state media and resources in favor of Putin and the ruling United Russia party. Churov publicly described the principle “Putin is always right” as “Churov’s First Law.”

Numerous men who served under Vladimir Putin on the St. Petersburg mayor's Committee on External Relations in the 1990s rose to powerful positions or became wealthy businessmen after he moved to Moscow and began his political ascent to the presidency. Here’s a look at the prominent committee alumni who ascended to Russia’s ruling class alongside Putin.

Viktor Zubkov

Committee tenure:

1992-93

Igor Sechin

Committee tenure:

1991-96

A former KGB officer like Putin, Sechin has worked closely with Putin since the early 1990s and served as his chief of staff during his first two terms. In 2012, Sechin became the CEO of state-owned Rosneft, which became Russia’s largest oil company after taking over key assets of Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s decimated Yukos empire.

Zubkov worked in government in St. Petersburg until 2001, when he moved to Moscow to become first deputy finance minister. He served as head of the federal financial-monitoring agency before Putin appointed him prime minister in 2007. During Putin’s subsequent four-year stint as prime minister, Zubkov served as his first deputy.

Aleksei Miller

Committee tenure:

1991-96

Yury Shamalov

Committee tenure:

1993-95

Miller has served as Gazprom’s head since 2002, a period in which Russia has wielded the company's gas exports as a political cudgel in foreign relations. British journalist Catherine Belton reported that within Putin’s circle, Miller was given the nickname “Soldat,” or “the soldier” -- a nod to his longtime fealty to Putin.

Shamalov is the eldest son of Nikolai Shamalov, a businessman and Putin’s close friend. Nikolai Shamalov once held the second-largest stake in Bank Rossia, which the U.S. Treasury Department calls the “personal bank” for senior Russian officials. Yury Shamalov’s brother, Kirill, is the ex-husband of Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

Numerous men who served under Vladimir Putin on the St. Petersburg mayor's Committee on External Relations in the 1990s rose to powerful positions or became wealthy businessmen after he moved to Moscow and began his political ascent to the presidency. Here’s a look at the prominent committee alumni who ascended to Russia’s ruling class alongside Putin.

Dmitry Medvedev

Committee tenure: 1990-95

Medvedev served as first deputy prime minister before becoming Putin’s handpicked successor in 2008. He served a single four-year term as president, while Putin became prime minister but remained Russia’s most powerful figure. They swapped places when Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, a move that triggered mass opposition protests.

Vladimir Churov

Committee tenure: 1991-2003

Churov became Russia’s elections chief in 2007, overseeing parliamentary and presidential elections that the OSCE flagged for "serious indications” of ballot stuffing and the mobilization of state media and resources in favor of Putin and the ruling United Russia party. Churov publicly described the principle “Putin is always right” as “Churov’s First Law.”

Viktor Zubkov

Committee tenure: 1992-93

Zubkov worked in government in St. Petersburg until 2001, when he moved to Moscow to become first deputy finance minister. He served as head of the federal financial-monitoring agency before Putin appointed him prime minister in 2007. During Putin’s subsequent four-year stint as prime minister, Zubkov served as his first deputy.

Igor Sechin

Committee tenure: 1991-96

A former KGB officer like Putin, Sechin has worked closely with Putin since the early 1990s and served as his chief of staff during his first two terms. In 2012, Sechin became the CEO of state-owned Rosneft, which became Russia’s largest oil company after taking over key assets of Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s decimated Yukos empire.

Aleksei Miller

Committee tenure: 1991-96

Miller has served as Gazprom’s head since 2002, a period in which Russia has wielded the company's gas exports as a political cudgel in foreign relations. British journalist Catherine Belton reported that within Putin’s circle, Miller was given the nickname “Soldat,” or “the soldier” -- a nod to his longtime fealty to Putin.

Yury Shamalov

Committee tenure: 1993-95

Shamalov is the eldest son of Nikolai Shamalov, a businessman and Putin’s close friend. Nikolai Shamalov once held the second-largest stake in Bank Rossia, which the U.S. Treasury Department calls the “personal bank” for senior Russian officials. Yury Shamalov’s brother, Kirill, is the ex-husband of Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova.