Will THIS man be Russia’s next ruler? ‘Hardline’ Kremlin stooge, 36, who ‘shares Putin’s love of ice hockey’ could replace tyrant amid constant rumours around Vladimir’s health

• Latest tip to succeed Putin is 36-year-old Kremlin official called Dmitry Kovalev
• He was seen in close conversation with Putin on Russian Victory Day parade 
• Rumours abound that Putin is terminally ill and looking for a replacement
• Dictator’s ‘term’ ends in 2024 and if he doesn’t run again he’ll need a successor 
• A Russia expert warned that any likely successor would be just as hardline 

A young Kremlin hardliner who is thought to share warmonger Vladimir Putin’s love of ice hockey is being tipped to succeed the tyrant amid constant rumours about the Russian President’s failing health. 

Kremlin experts have identified 36-year-old Dmitry Kovalev as one of Putin’s preferred successors.  

Kovalev works inside the presidential administration and was seen in close and intimate conversation with the autocrat at the tub-thumping May 9 Victory Day parade.

Telegram channel Baza reported that Putin met Kovalev, the son of Russian gas tycoon Vitaly Kovalev, at an ice hockey match.

However, any Western hopes that a new Russian ruler might lead to a thaw in relations could be misplaced. 

Vladimir Putin in close conversation with Dmitry Kovalev, 36, rumoured to be a potential successor, at the military parade during 77th anniversary of the Victory Day in Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 09, 2022

Rumours about the Russian dictator’s health swirl, with Putin is seen hobbling from his presidential plane during the welcoming ceremony in Tehran earlier this week

Keir Giles, author of Moscow Rules: What Drives Russia to Confront the West said that there is ‘no reason’ to think that any successor to Putin would be any less ‘hardline’.

Mr Giles told The Express: ‘There are plenty of candidates for Putin’s successor who would make Russia’s relationship with the West, and with its own people, even worse than Putin has been doing over the last few years of his reign.’

He added that any successor from the same background as Putin is likely to ‘continue bringing Russia back to the normal default state of its opposition to the West’. 

In recent months, Putin has been seen uncontrollably shaking, gripping tables and chairs for support, and appeared bloated and ill-at-ease. 

Most recently, the 69-year-old hobbled off his plane and along the red carpet with his right hand unnaturally glued to his right leg after touching down in Iran for a summit on Tuesday.

This has given rise to rumours that the strongman is suffering from a form of cancer and Parkinson’s disease, as well as repeated operations to deal with it.

These rumours have prompted the gossip surrounding a potential successor to grow stronger in recent months.

The issue is especially acute since Putin has very successfully cleared the field of all potential challengers, creating what will likely be a dangerous power vacuum should he die without an heir in place.

The constitutional changes that Putin eased through the state Duma in 2020 mean that he is eligible to stand for election once again in 2024 – if he does the outcome being a foregone conclusion – and he could rule for another 12 year term.

But it is also possible that he might refrain from running for re-election and nominate a handpicked successor to run – and likely win. 

Thus the urgency to find a suitable candidate who would carry on Putin’s legacy and be loyal to him even after he holds the power of the Kremlin – all before 2024. 

William Burns, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said he fears Putin is ‘entirely too healthy’

The idea of turning the direction that Russia is taking around, and bringing it back towards the liberal and democratic values that it flirted with after the fall of the Soviet Union, was fanciful, Mr Giles thought. 

Other candidates to replace Putin have been floated as  

Yet the topic might even be academic for a while longer, as William Burns, the director of the CIA said Vladimir Putin is ‘entirely too healthy’.

Mr Burns, who was speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said his comments were ‘not a formal intelligence judgment’ but a personal opinion.

The rumours about Putin’s health have been swirling for years going back to at least 2014. 

The spy chief, the last US official to meet with Putin before he ordered his troops to butcher Ukrainians, said the leader is ‘a big believer in control and intimidation and getting even’, and his ‘appetite for risk has grown’.

He added: ‘He is stewing in a very combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity.’     

Source: Read Full Article