×
Enjoying ad-free content?
Since July 1, 2024, we have disabled all ads to improve your reading experience.
This commitment costs us $10,000 a month. Your support can help us fill the gap.
Support us
Our journalism is banned in Russia. We need your help to keep providing you with the truth.

Kremlin Affairs Chief Replaced

Longtime head of the Russian Office of Presidential Affairs, Vladimir Kozhin, was dismissed from his job on Monday, the Kremlin's website reported.

His replacement is Alexander Kolpakov, former department head at the Presidential Security Service.

Kozhin will become a presidential aide overseeing military-industrial cooperation, the Kremlin said.

Kozhin, 55, a Chelyabinsk region native and engineer by education, entered state service in 1994.

He was never actively involved in politics, but since 2000 headed the Kremlin's office of affairs, a mammoth agency managing the assets of Russia's top state bodies, including the government, the parliament and top courts.

The organization had a budget of 87 billion rubles ($2.5 billion) as of 2011, the latest year for which it reported figures on its website.

The agency runs major development projects and was even linked in 2010 to "Putin's palace," a posh mansion that a whistleblower claimed was built for the president on protected land along the Black Sea coast. Kozhin denied involvement at the time.

Kozhin was also among the Russian officials blacklisted by the U.S. in March over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more