Putin's adviser on Donbas Surkov may be replaced
The newspaper Kommersant reported that Russia will appoint a new representative in charge of the so-called to the Donetsk Luhansk People’s Republics, to replace Vladislav Surkov.
According to the newspaper, government reshuffle in the Kremlin will affect advisers and assistants to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Surkov is Putin’s aide in matters related to the Commonwealth of Independent States, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Ukraine.
Mikhail Babich, whose appointment as Russia’s ambassador was rejected by Ukraine, may take Surkov's post.
Babich was born in 1969 in Ryazan and in 1990 he graduated from the Higher Military Command School of Communications. He was the first Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Regulation of the Food Market under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. He was also the Vice-Governor of the Moscow and Ivanovo regions. In 2002-2003 he was the Prime Minister of Chechnya.
Later, Babich joined the State Duma as a member of the United Russia party and has been an authorized representative of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District since 2011.