Former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Ivanov is no more, once considered Putin’s strongest successor

President of Russia Vladimir Putin Sergei Ivanov, the country’s former Defense Minister, who was said to be closest to the Prime Minister, died on Friday (June 26, 2026) at the age of 73. Ivanov was a key member of an influential group known as the siloviki, or powerful people. The members of this group, like President Putin, had emerged from the Soviet Union’s intelligence agency KGB and after Putin came to power, they had a major influence on Russia’s politics and security system. Sergei Ivanov, a member of this group, was once seen as a possible successor to President Vladimir Putin.

Putin expressed condolences to the former defense minister

According to Reuters, after Ivanov’s death, the Kremlin issued a short official statement on Friday (June 26, 2026) and shared information about it. In the statement, the Kremlin said, ‘Vladimir Putin has expressed his deep condolences to Sergei Ivanov’s family and friends on his death.’

However, the interesting thing is that the first announcement about Ivanov’s death was made by a basketball organization named VTB United League, of which Ivanov was the honorary president. After the announcement of this organization, the Kremlin confirmed his death.

Ivanov’s important contribution in strengthening Russia- Lavrov

According to the report, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also expressed his condolences on the demise of the former Defense Minister. In his condolence message, he described Ivanov as an excellent politician who made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of modern Russia.

He wrote on the website of the Ministry of External Affairs, ‘He made a significant contribution to strengthening the national security and defense capability of our country, further strengthening our position in the world, as well as to the modernization of the domestic military-industrial complex.’

Why was Ivanov considered Vladimir Putin Successor to?

According to the report, like Putin, Ivanov, born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), studied languages, after which he was recruited into the KGB. Early in his career, Ivanov worked for Putin. At the same time, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ivanov advanced in the successor agencies of the KGB and became the Deputy Director of the FSB Security Service under Putin’s leadership. After this, in the year 2001, he was appointed as the Defense Minister of Russia under the leadership of Putin and became the first civilian to reach this post in modern Russian history.

In 2005, Ivanov was made the Deputy Prime Minister of the country and in 2007 he was again appointed the First Deputy Prime Minister. At the time when Putin had to step down after completing his two presidential terms, Ivanov was considered one of the strongest contenders among his potential successors. However, Putin later chose Dmitry Medvedev as his successor.

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