Putin Grooms a New Generation of Leaders

After 16 years in charge, Vladimir Putin is shaking up his team to cement his control into the next decade. The 63-year-old leader is pushing aside some longtime allies and grooming young lieutenants—many of whom share his background in the security services and aren’t old enough to have worked under any other leader—to form a new generation of Kremlin leadership. One of them could even become his successor one day.

In his interview with Bloomberg, Putin wouldn’t admit he’s planning to run for another six-year term in 2018 (almost everyone in Moscow’s political establishment believes he will), but he made clear he’s settling in for the long haul. He’s already ordered top advisers to come up with a program for his next term. Key attributes for a potential successor when the time comes? “A young person” but a “mature person,” was as far as he would go.