Aleksei Dyumin, a former bodyguard to Russian President Vladimir Putin who was recently named a top Kremlin aide, has been appointed secretary of the State Council.
Dyumin's appointment to the council, an advisory board consisting of governors, top parliament deputies, the prime minister, and other regional officials, was the latest indication of his growing clout within the Kremlin.
Though not as powerful as the Security Council, the council is nevertheless a highly public venue that analysts say is used by Putin to build support among regional officials and business elite.
The Kremlin made the announcement on May 29, but gave no other details.
A former governor of the Tula region, home to a sizable number of defense industries, the 52-year-old Dyumin was named as an aide to Putin earlier this month amid a wide-ranging shuffle of top Defense Ministry and Security Council positions.
Dyumin had previously worked as a bodyguard for Putin as part of the powerful Federal Protective Service, Russia's equivalent of the U.S. Secret Service.
In a 2016 interview with the newspaper Kommersant, he described how once, when he was serving on Putin’s security detail, he scared off a bear that had approached a presidential residence where Putin was sleeping.
A recipient of Russia's highest honor and regular ice hockey teammate of Putin, Dyumin has also served as deputy defense minister and was instrumental in the 2014 operation to occupy Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which was subsequently annexed.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Dyumin in 2018, citing his role in the Crimea annexation.
He's also frequently been on Kremlin watchers' short list of possible successors to Putin.
The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has reported that Dyumin may have been instrumental in the creation of the Wagner mercenary group.
The company's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 two months after he staged an unprecedented mutiny that openly challenged Putin and Russia's military leadership.
During the June 2023 mutiny, Dyumin reportedly played a key role in persuading Prigozhin to back down.
Afterwards, Dyumin publicly praised Prigozhin as "a true patriot, a decisive and fearless man."
Putin recently began a reshuffle of top defense-related jobs, including relieving his close ally, Sergei Shoigu, of his duties as defense minister. The appear to underpin an attempt by the Kremlin to crack down on corruption in the sector.
SEE ALSO: Senior Russian Military Official Held As Kremlin Continues Corruption SweepIn his appointment as a Kremlin aide earlier this month, Dyumin was given oversight of Russia's military-industrial complex, a position Kremlin watchers said was aimed at balancing other powerful business interests, including the state defense conglomerate, Rostekh.
"Apparently, Putin decided that some kind of independent supervision over them was needed," Abbas Gallyamov, a former Putin speechwriter who now lives outside of Russia, told Current Time on May 29.
"Dyumin is not from their clan, he is not their enemy, but he is not from their clan. And this independent supervision of an extremely important industry for Putin will be carried out by Dyumin," Gallyamov said.