Putin Appoints His Ex Bodyguard As Head Of Russia's State Council

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said earlier this month that many people believed that the 71-year-old Putin saw Dyumin as his successor.

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 another six-year term earlier this year, Putin made Dyumin an aide specialising in the defence industry and the Kremlin spoke at the time of other responsibilities for him.

A decree signed by Putin appointing him to the State Council role was published on the Kremlin's website on Wednesday morning.