Who is Putin ally Alexei Dyumin, new member of Russia’s Security Council?

This content was published on September 30, 2024 - 16:15

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Alexei Dyumin, who was appointed to Russia’s Security Council on Monday, is one of President Vladimir Putin closest allies.

* Born on Aug. 28, 1972, in Kursk. His father was a military medic and his mother a teacher.

* In 1995, he entered the Federal Guards Service (FSO). He guarded both President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

* From August 1999, Dyumin worked in the president’s body guard service for Putin’s first and second terms.

“I was part of a group of officers which ensured the security of the president everywhere – in Russia and abroad,” Dyumin said.

“Every morning began with a report to the president on operational reports. You must have information on the regions, on emergency situations. Sometimes I had to give instructions to the minister, set a task to the head of the region.”

* In 2012, he was appointed deputy head of the presidential body guard. In 2014, he was he appointed deputy head of the GRU (Russian military intelligence). He was one of the key people behind the annexation of Crimea. In 2015, he was made deputy defence minister.

* In 2016, he was elected as governor of Tula region.

* In May 2024, Putin appointed Dyumin to be one of his aides overseeing the defence industry and later that month made him secretary of the advisory State Council, a step that fuelled speculation about Dyumin’s presidential potential.