Ivanov, who was replaced by his deputy, Anton E. Vaino, was appointed the presidential special representative for environment, ecology, and transportation. Yet despite his ambitions-or, more likely, because of them-Mr Ivanov lost the contest to succeed Mr Putin as president in 2008 to Mr Medvedev, who loyally ceded the seat back to him in 2012.
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Despite the clear appearance that Mr Ivanov had been forced out, the president insisted he was making the move at his one-time ally’s request because he had been too long in the job.
Mr Putin recently reshuffled a string of top regional officials in a move experts say is aimed at helping the Kremlin shore up the vote across the country. In 2001, after Putin was elected to his first term as president, Ivanov became defense minister and was later appointed deputy prime minister in 2007, shortly before the end of Putin’s second term as president.
Putin discussed the changes with both men in a meeting shown on state television, saying it was Ivanov’s request to switch to another job after four years.
Mr. Ivanov has been part of Mr. Putin’s trusted inner circle for many years, the BBC reports. The 63-year-old Mr Ivanov in the televised remarks on Friday thanked Mr Putin for his “high assessment of my work during the past 17 years”.
After Mr Putin took the reins of the Federal Security Service in 1998, he recruited Mr Ivanov to join him.
Ivanov is only the latest victim of what appears to be a purge launched by Putin to get rid of allies who worked with him for decades.
The body includes Putin along with the chairpersons of the parliament and the chiefs of Russia’s security services. And tension with Ukraine is escalating over Russian claims that Ukraine attempted to stage a terrorist attack in Crimea; Russia deployed powerful S-400 air defence systems to Crimea, while Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister, warned that diplomatic relations with Ukraine could be severed.
“Psychologically, it’s easier for Putin these days to be around the people who always thought of him as the great leader and can not recall the times when Putin was not that great leader”, Belkovsky said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
Ivanov has been Putin’s chief of staff since December 2011.
Putin told Ivanov’s successor that he will be tasked chiefly with rooting out “empty bureaucracy”. All of them are men in their 60s who studied or made their career in St Petersburg alongside Mr Putin.
Moscow-based analyst Alexei Makarkin said that Putin wants to avoid projecting the image of an ageing leader.
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Respected business daily Vedomosti on Friday described Vayno in an article on its website “as Putin’s own person”, who is not affiliated with any Kremlin group.
