Politics

Putin Dismissed His Chief of Staff. What Does It Mean for Russia?

In an ornate Kremlin meeting room, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday dismissed longtime aide Sergei Ivanov as his chief of staff and anointed Anton Vaino, Ivanov’s former deputy, to take over the influential post, in what amounts to a major reshaping of the country’s elite leadership.
...But beyond the tightly choreographed meeting, news that the 63-year-old Ivanov — a man who Putin once said was among his most trusted advisors — would request to leave one month before parliamentary elections and in the middle of fresh standoff with Ukraine — has been met with great skepticism. The details behind the high-level shake-up within the Kremlin are not clear, but many analysts view the move as part of a wider trend within Putin’s inner circle: He has been replacing older members with a younger generation of officials to reorder the political elite to his benefit.