Russian elite expects Putin to reshuffle some positions after election win

In control of all state levers and with no serious political competitors, Putin – in power as president or prime minister since the last day of 1999 – is widely expected to win what will be his fifth presidential term and another six years in power.

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The four sources, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject, said they expected younger people to be brought into more senior government positions, including perhaps as deputy ministers and heads of ministerial departments, and for an older generation of government officials to be demoted or retire after the election.

One of the sources said ministerial portfolios were being reviewed too and that the reshuffle was expected to take place in May.

Changes at major state corporations, state energy behemoths and in Russia’s more than 80 regional governorships are also seen as possible, the sources said. The Kremlin says it never comments on planned personnel changes ahead of time.

At a time when Russia is waging war with Ukraine and needs continuity, two of the sources said they did not expect Putin to change his defence and foreign ministers, however.

“You don’t change horses mid-stream,” said the first source, who added that it would be surprising if Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, 68, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who turns 74 later this month, did not keep their posts.

In office since 2020, Mikhail Mishustin, the 58-year-old technocratic prime minister, is also expected to keep his job, they said. So is Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, three sources said.

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Planned changes at the top of major ministries and in security agencies will only take place after the end of what Putin calls his special military operation in Ukraine, the first source said.