Russia’s Putin Demotes Cold War Warrior Patrushev and Raises Two Allies

Russian President Vladimir Putin demoted Nikolai Patrushev, a Cold War warrior who crafted the Kremlin’s national security strategy, to a job overseeing the shipbuilding industry while raising two younger lieutenants to senior Kremlin jobs.
Since the 71-year-old Kremlin chief was sworn in like a tsar for a new presidential term on May 7, Putin has changed his defense minister amid the war in Ukraine and given a new generation of officials broad sway over the economy.
Putin kept Anton Vaino, 52, as chief of staff and Alexei Gromov, 63, and Sergei Kiriyenko, 61, as first deputy chiefs of staff, but handed former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin, 51, a Kremlin job and raised Maxim Oreshkin, 41, to deputy chief of staff.
Patrushev, a former KGB officer from St Petersburg where Putin was born, was moved from the heart of the modern-day politburo, where he had worked for 16 years as secretary of the Security Council, to oversee shipbuilding as a Kremlin aide.
His 46-year-old son, Dmitry, was, however, promoted to the job of deputy prime minister in charge of agriculture.
“Oreshkin was promoted, Dyumin was brought closer, and Patrushev Senior was heavily demoted,” a senior Russian source told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of such public remarks.
Although Putin, in good health, is embarking on a new six-year term and is expected to rule for years to come his reshuffles are closely scrutinized by Kremlin watchers to try to discern if he is lining up potential candidates to succeed him.
There is no reliable information on who Putin may favor and being publicly identified as a potential successor is not something that anyone wants given the risks attached to being seem as a challenger.