Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s former defense minister and a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin who was once considered a potential successor to the Russian leader, has died at the age of 73.The Kremlin did not provide a cause of death. Exile news outlet Meduza reported that there were rumors that Ivanov suffered from a serious long-term illness. Putin expressed his “deep condolences” to Ivanov’s friends and relatives in a brief statement posted on the Kremlin website.Ivanov and Putin first met in the 1970s, when both served in the KGB’s Leningrad Bureau. Putin joined the St. Petersburg mayor’s office in the 1990s and moved into local politics, while Ivanov stayed in the intelligence service and rose to become a senior official in the foreign intelligence service.The two men reunited in the late 1990s as Putin rose to prominence in the federal government. Putin appointed Ivanov as deputy to Russia’s FSB security service in 1998 and later as secretary of Russia’s Security Council after becoming prime minister in 1999.
Secretary of Defense and potential successors
Ivanov served as defense minister from 2001 to 2007 and oversaw the Second Chechen War, which crushed separatist attempts in the region.In 2008, when Putin decided to resign due to term limits and become prime minister, Ivanov was widely regarded as his most likely successor.However, Putin chose another long-time aide, Dmitry Medvedev, as his replacement until he regained the presidency in 2012. Some observers believe Putin abandoned Ivanov’s candidacy because he considered him too ambitious and feared he would try to retain the presidency.Ivanov remained with Putin as deputy prime minister from 2007 to 2011 and then as Kremlin chief of staff from 2011 to 2016, playing an important role in overseeing the presidential administration.In 2016, Ivanov was appointed presidential envoy for environmental protection, ecology and transportation, a job that has no political influence and is widely regarded as emeritus. Putin relieved him of his duties in February, when he was 73, less than a week before the standard mandatory retirement age for civil servants.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ivanov personally asked the president to sack him.Ivanov, like other senior Russian officials, is subject to U.S. and European Union sanctions over Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.Although he no longer serves as the presidential special representative, he still retains his position as one of the 13 permanent members of Russia’s Security Council. He also served as honorary chairman of the VTB United League Basketball Organization.Ivanov holds the rank of retired general.
