A “balancing” appointment within the Kremlin’s checks-and-balances
Vladimir Medinsky may be appointed deputy head of the Presidential Administration, replacing Dmitry Kozak. He is already involved in negotiations on Ukraine and has been consolidating his position within the Administration.
According to sources close to the Kremlin, Medinsky could take the post of deputy chief of the Presidential Administration if Kozak moves to become the presidential plenipotentiary envoy in St. Petersburg (the Northwestern Federal District).
The decision is expected soon, the sources say. Kozak’s transfer would not lead to a sharp strengthening of Sergey Kiriyenko’s role—President Vladimir Putin, one interlocutor notes, does not want to upend the system of checks and balances inside the Administration. Against that backdrop, Medinsky is viewed as a “balancing” figure.
Portfolio: Ukraine file, education and culture
Medinsky has taken part in talks with Ukraine since 2022, and his possible promotion is described by sources as a “logical extension” of that role. As deputy head of the Administration, he would likely focus on the Ukraine portfolio and also oversee education and culture. The Directorate for Public Projects, currently headed by Sergey Novikov, would most likely come under his purview as well.
The former culture minister has served as a presidential aide since 2020. In recent years he has steadily built up his bureaucratic clout: in 2021 he chaired the Interdepartmental Commission on Historical Education and became a key driver of the “military-patriotic education” agenda. Under his editorship, a unified school history textbook was published—where, as interlocutors put it, “ideology has finally displaced education.”
In the spring of 2022, Medinsky led the Russian delegation at talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. At the time he was viewed as a second-tier figure, but he used the situation to strengthen his position. “He was Putin’s pick; Medinsky has enormous influence on the president on the Ukraine agenda,” one source says.
From ideologue to power broker: scenarios ahead
In February 2025, Medinsky was elected to head the Russian Writers’ Union, cementing his status as one of the country’s principal ideologues. “He has big ambitions. He’s not running in the succession race, but he does want to be a gray cardinal—a new Suslov adapted to contemporary realities,” one interlocutor says.
At the same time, sources add, unlike Mikhail Suslov, Medinsky is not indifferent to material interests and is actively building his own resource base. “He’s acquired a taste for it and is making long-term plans,” another source sums up.
Medinsky is openly mentioned as a potential successor to Sergey Kiriyenko, who would focus on the “new territories” and on shaping relations with the near abroad. It is not out of the question that the domestic-policy bloc could eventually be transferred to Medinsky and that he would oversee the State Duma campaign.
“Right now, Vladimir Medinsky is closer to Putin than Sergey Kiriyenko. Putin and Medinsky quite literally speak the same language,” say sources close to the Presidential Administration.
