Putin’s paranoia Escalates, placing family member in top Defense Position
Vladimir Putin has elevated members of his extended family to senior government posts, underscoring his reliance on personal loyalty as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its fourth year and sanctions tighten around the economy.
Anna Tsivileva, the daughter of Putin’s cousin, was appointed deputy defense minister in June 2024 and promoted weeks later to the additional post of ministry state secretary — a rare combination of political and bureaucratic authority that gives her sweeping control over budgets and personnel. Her husband, Sergei Tsivilev, became energy minister the previous month.
According to a 21-page intelligence assessment shared by Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence service, Tsivileva was placed in the ministry to monitor loyalty, root out corruption and report directly to the Kremlin. The report said her information has already triggered a series of arrests by the FSB, Russia’s domestic security agency.
The appointments came during a purge that saw the removal of long-time defense chief Sergei Shoigu and the detention of several deputies, including Timur Ivanov, Pavel Popov and Dmitry Bulgakov, on graft charges. Each case was followed by further arrests among defense contractors, reflecting a power struggle within the system that supplies Russia’s war.
Business Background
Unlike most of her predecessors, Tsivileva entered the defense ministry from the private sector. She built a fortune in medicine and coal, eventually taking control of a 70% stake in Kolmar Group, a coal producer valued at $2.4 billion, transferred from oligarch Gennady Timchenko. Ukrainian intelligence estimates that she and her husband have amassed more than $4 billion in assets, spread across properties, offshore companies and stakes in unsanctioned chemical enterprises in Germany and Spain that allegedly continue to supply Russia’s defense industry.
Western governments have sanctioned Tsivileva, citing her close ties to Putin and her role in supporting the war economy. But Kolmar remains a significant player in coal exports to Asia, particularly China, which has emerged as Moscow’s lifeline for energy sales.
Nepotism and Isolation
Her rapid rise has been noted in Moscow and abroad. The UK’s Defense Intelligence assessed at the time of her appointment that the nepotism “tested even Russian tolerance for corrupt practice.” Analysts say the move reflects Putin’s narrowing circle of trust.
“Because of the age demographic there’s an increasingly small pool of those who owe their career to Putin,” Emily Ferris, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told The Times. “He has a lot of sycophantic junior staff but that’s not the same as having someone who is a loyal and trusted friend. Having family in there offers another layer of protection.”
Tsivileva’s influence has grown quickly. Ukrainian intelligence claims she attended nine meetings with Putin in the first three weeks of September alone, three of which were reported in the Russian press. Last week she represented Moscow in Beijing at the Xiangshan Forum, where she sought support for Russia’s escalating defense costs — including salaries for an enlarged army, compensation for families of the dead and wounded, and rehabilitation for tens of thousands of veterans.
HUR officials believe her direct blood ties to Putin may reassure Beijing that funds will be monitored closely, reducing the risk of embezzlement by rival networks.
Crackdown on Rivals
The intelligence file portrays Tsivileva’s task as partly aimed at weakening the influence of Sergei Chemezov, head of state defense conglomerate Rostec and a Putin ally since their KGB days in East Germany. Chemezov has long been accused of channeling wealth and contracts to his circle.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote earlier this year that waves of arrests among defense contractors have unsettled the elite, many of whom have lost access to revenue streams as contracts are redistributed to new Kremlin-favored groups.
“There have been several waves of arrests. Not everyone could be arrested at once — there is good reason for that,” a Ukrainian intelligence officer told The Times. “A group loyal to Chemezov or Shoigu could stage a revolt, as happened with Prigozhin.”
That reference to the late Wagner chief highlights the Kremlin’s concerns. The June 2023 mutiny showed how quickly private armed groups could challenge state authority. By embedding family members at the top of critical ministries, Putin is seeking insurance against another challenge from within.
Dynastic Wealth
Tsivileva’s personal wealth has grown alongside her political power. Beyond Kolmar, she and her husband own more than a dozen properties in Russia and some 30 vehicles, according to Ukrainian intelligence. Offshore holdings in Panama, Cyprus and Switzerland are also listed. A 2022 investigation by Radio Free Europe reported that the Kremlin had injected more than 11 billion rubles ($132 million) into Kolmar, boosting its value as it passed into her control.
Despite sanctions, the family has managed to maintain influence abroad. The dossier alleges control of chemical firms in Germany and Spain that supply materials to the Russian defense industry, though through proxies to avoid detection.
A Narrowing Circle
Putin’s reliance on relatives signals both his mistrust of traditional elites and his determination to centralize power in the hands of those bound to him by blood. For Western policymakers, it illustrates the durability of Russia’s war economy, which has adapted under sanctions by shifting contracts and revenues to new, tightly controlled networks.
But it also suggests fragility. A president who once relied on patronage and compromise now leans on family to enforce loyalty. For Russia’s wider elite, already unsettled by sanctions and purges, the message is clear: access to wealth and power flows through the president’s kin — and no one else.
