He is a former bodyguard of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who some media reports could be one of the country’s future leaders. Alexeï Dioumine, 51, has just been appointed to the post of Secretary General of the Council of State. The decree of his appointment was published this Wednesday, May 29, 2024 on the Kremlin website, reports Reuters. The man was the Russian leader’s bodyguard during his first two terms between 2000 and 2008.
The role of the Russian State Council? “Its mission is to ensure the good coordination of all state bodies, at all levels,” explains Arnaud Dubien, director of the Franco-Russian Observatory in Moscow, to our colleagues at Figaro. The State Council brings together the most notable leaders of the Russian elite, including the speakers of both houses, the head of the presidential administration, the head of government, governors and heads of republics, as well as mayors of large cities.
Future Russian president?
According to many observers, the appointment of Alexei Dioumin to this important and strategic position could signal that he is a potential successor to Vladimir Putin. “The Russian elite is in turmoil with the appointment of Diumin as secretary of the State Council,” Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser and Putin supporter, said on Telegram. “This is seen as confirmation that Dyumin is the future president of Russia, Putin’s choice,” Markov said, adding that it was a long-standing rumor. Asked about the appointment of Alexeï Dioumin, the Kremlin replied that it was part of a rotation. He succeeds Igor Levitin, 72 years old.
After his last re-election for a new six-year presidential term in March, Vladimir Putin promoted him to the rank of advisor specializing in the defense industry and the Kremlin suggested that he would take on other responsibilities.
Former FSB involved in the invasion of Crimea
Born in 1972 in Kursk, Alexeï Gennadievich Dioumin first served in the FSB, before joining the presidential security service in 1995. In 2007, he was responsible for the security of the head of government Viktor Zubkov, and in 2012, he is appointed deputy head of Vladimir Putin’s security service. Thanks to this position, he meets the Russian president on a daily basis.
In the Russian newspaper Kommersant, in 2016, Alexei Diumin recounted how, as Putin’s bodyguard, he used his pistol to scare away a bear from one of the president’s mountain residences while the Russian leader rested. In a 2020 article entitled “The very political hockey of Vladimir Putin”, Agence France Presse wrote: “In the goals of the head of state’s team, Alexeï Dioumin, 47, a former bodyguard who has the wind in its sails.” In 2014, Alexei Dioumin became deputy head of the GRU, Russian military intelligence, in charge of special forces. After serving as deputy head of presidential security, in 2016 he became governor of the Tula region, 200 kilometers south of Moscow.
Always according to Kommersant, Alexei Dioumin was allegedly involved in the invasion of Crimea in 2014. It was he who organized the exfiltration from Ukraine of Viktor Yanukovych, the former president overthrown by the Maidan revolution, a pro-European movement.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Dioumin in 2018, saying he led special operations forces that “played a key role in Russia’s alleged annexation of Crimea.” It is also on a British sanctions list that says it has launched a drone training school in 2022 for officers carrying out missions in Ukraine. “Accordingly, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Diumin has been and continues to be involved in the destabilization of Ukraine or in undermining or threatening its territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine,” the British Treasury said.
By this appointment to the Russian State Council, Alexeï Dioumin confirms that he is a faithful among the faithful of Vladimir Putin. When the current Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, was put in difficulty by the rebellion of the Wagner paramilitary group in 2023, it was his name that appeared to replace him.