The Washington Post: Russia Has Already Found Replacement For Putin

He may represent a generational shift in Russian power.

On October 7, Vladimir Putin will celebrate his 70th birthday, and his entourage is already considering a successor to the Russian president.

Putin has come very close to the age that Russian propaganda is accustomed to calling 'old age' (as in the case of Joe Biden - ed.) and to looking for the first signs of dementia. However, after the failure of the war against Ukraine and the economic destruction of Russia, perhaps this scenario would be the most acceptable for the current Kremlin master.

The Washington Post writes that Russia has already found a replacement for Putin. Dmitry Patrushev, the Minister of Agriculture and son of Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, is likely to become Russia's new chief.

The official will turn 45 in October and could represent a generational shift in Russian power.

"He could be prime minister one day and become president the next," a source close to the head of the Agriculture Ministry's father told WP.

Patrushev's advantages are not just his age, but his command of several languages and that he has not been involved in the war. Navalny, who has also been predicted for the Russian presidency, is unlikely to become president of the Russian Federation. The fact is that he is an "enemy of the elites", while Patrushev has long been working in the "system" and may find support in the Council of the Federation and the State Duma.

WP names as other possible contenders for Putin's position Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak, former presidential security guard and head of the Tula Region Aleksey Dyumin, and Nikolai Patrushev.

Ramzan Kadyrov and Evgeny Prigozhin, who have recently displayed unprecedented media activity, are hardly to be taken seriously. The media believe that the purpose of their struggle is money and prestige rather than real power in the country.