Putin appoints his ex-bodyguard Dyumin to lead Kursk region operation against Ukrainian Forces
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed long-time ally and former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin to be responsible for the "liberation" of the Kursk region from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, reports indicate. The news was first reported by Telegram channel “Vazhnyye Istorii” and confirmed by Russian State Duma MP from the Kursk region, Nikolai Ivanov, citing his sources.
"My sources confirmed this information. Indeed, Alexei Gennadyevich Dyumin was invited to a meeting with Putin yesterday, where he was tasked with overseeing the counterterrorism operation. The main objective is to defeat the Ukrainian armed forces that have entered the territory of Kursk," Ivanov said.
Ivanov noted that Dyumin is well-suited for the task, having led significant operations during the annexation of Crimea and also being a native of Kursk.
The Moscow Times states this appointment effectively sidelines Valery Gerasimov, Head of the General Staff, who according to reports from Bloomberg, had intelligence about Ukrainian plans but did not inform Putin.
On Monday, during a televised meeting about the situation in border regions, Dyumin was amongst the attendees. Dyumin, who served as the governor of the Tula region from 2016 to 2024, has also been an assistant to the President of the Russian Federation and is the Secretary of the State Council.
Official biographies show that the 51-year-old Dyumin graduated from the Voronezh Higher Military Engineering School of Radioelectronics in 1994, an institution now part of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy. He also completed professional retraining at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia in 2013.
Between 1994 and 1996, Dyumin worked as an engineer at the Central Control Unit of the Air Force's Comprehensive Technical Control. He then transitioned to the Federal Protective Service (FSO), serving as one of Putin's personal guards. In 2013, he joined the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and later the Ministry of Defense. From 2016 to 2024, he served as the governor of the Tula region and was awarded the rank of Colonel General in 2021.
Ukrainian forces entered the Kursk region on August 6. As of August 12, their advance spans 12 km deep and 40 km wide, taking control of 28 settlements, according to acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov. Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that 1,000 km² are now under Ukrainian control.