President Vladimir Putin replaced three Kremlin aides on Wednesday, in what is likely to be the last part of a reshuffle which saw many established faces retain power.
Former Deputy Interior Minister Yevgeny Shkolov, Leo Tolstoy’s great great grandson Vladimir Tolstoy, and former State Council official Alexander Abramov were made presidential advisors.
Shkolov was also until recently on the board of directors of a Urals tank-making factory, made famous after Putin appointed its other senior executive, Igor Kholmanskikh, as his special envoy to the region. Kholmanskikh called Putin during an annual phone-in show in December and offered to send in “the boys” to break up protests against his rule.
Shkolov, Tolstoy and Abramov replace Oleg Markov, Yury Laptev and Yevgeny Yuryev.
On Tuesday, six former ministers were appointed aides.
The latest appointments come after Putin, who was inaugurated for a third presidential term earlier this month, unveiled his new cabinet which saw many of his trusted allies keep their jobs.