Putin strategist Surkov returns to Kremlin as aide
September 21, 2013
MOSCOW – Vladislav Surkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former political strategist, has returned to the Kremlin after his sudden resignation in May.
He quit as deputy prime minister amid denials from the Kremlin that the step was connected to a row over the alleged embezzlement of state funds.
Mr Surkov had criticised an inquiry into a project he had been supervising.
On Friday, it was announced that he had been appointed an aide to Mr Putin, who was re-elected president last year.
The presidential decree did not specify Mr Surkov’s new responsibilities but Mr Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told Ekho Moskvy radio he would advise the president on aid to the Moscow-backed breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.