When it comes to Russian officials singing the praises of Vladimir Putin, current speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin may not be the loudest or most frequent, but he is definitely the most blunt in explaining to Russians why they should be grateful for Putin’s rule. “If there is Putin, there is Russia. If there is no Putin, there is no Russia,” Russia’s then-deputy premier asserted in 2014. Putin quickly and publicly rejected this masterpiece of reductionist flattery, but Volodin has insisted on repeating it on several occasions since. Whether or not accolades for Russia’s autocratic leader have helped Volodin remain near the top of federal power despite several reshuffles ordered by Putin since returning to the Kremlin in 2012, we do not know. What we do know is that Volodin’s name often comes up when Russian officials and experts publicly short-list Putin’s potential successors. While Volodin—whose defining trait as a potential successor in Putin’s eyes has been described as “unlimited devotion” to the Russian president—is usually not the top pick, he may nevertheless have a shot at the Kremlin if Putin decides to depart when his current terms ends in 2024 or otherwise.
Volodin served as deputy chairman of the State Duma from 2000 to 2010. In 2010, he was appointed deputy chairman of the government – head of the office of the government, and in 2012 became the first deputy chief of staff of the presidential administration of Russia. In October 2016, he assumed his current position as the chairman of the State Duma. That makes him the fourth highest-ranking official in Russia, but it is unlikely that this outspoken Duma speaker is among the circle of people Putin consults on key aspects of Russia’s external policies. Had Volodin been part of that small circle, he would have probably been informed of Russia’s forthcoming invasion of Ukraine. That he was in the dark about the invasion plans (or was instructed to mislead the public on that issue) follows from the fact that he promised on Jan. 28, 2022, that “Russia will not go to war against Ukraine,” and then demanded on Feb. 18, 2022, that the West apologize for its “disinformation” “promising” a Russian invasion into Ukraine. Additionally, Volodin was about 6,000 miles away from Moscow, visiting Cuba, on the day the Russian forces launched their multi-pronged offensive against Ukraine.
In the know or not, Volodin apparently did not need to catch his breath once the invasion commenced on Feb. 24, 2022, producing a post on his Telegram channel before the day was over that pledged support for the “special military operation” and urged Ukrainians not to resist it. His subsequent rhetoric rivals that of other potential successors, such as Dmitry Medvedev, in vitriolic attacks on Volodymy Zelensky’s government and its supporters in the West, which he has described as “evil” and “dark,” predicting times of “cold and hunger” ahead for it. A topic on which Volodin has managed to outdo even Medvedev in vitriol is what the Russian authorities should do with the hundreds of thousands of their compatriots who left Russia immediately after the invasion began or after the subsequent partial mobilization that Putin ordered in September. The Duma speaker—who has reportedly accumulated significant wealth during Putin’s rule—is so aggrieved by these departures that not a fortnight goes by without his promising higher taxes, confiscation of property and other punishments for those who “betrayed” their country by leaving it. In his invariably tough stance on the Kremlin’s external and internal “adversaries,” Volodin has occasionally deviated from the party line, failing to predict its next turn. For instance, on May 28, 2022, he called for preventing exports of Ukrainian grain, asserting that “[u]nder no circumstances should grain be exported” from Ukraine, only to have the Kremlin agree to just that by joining the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 27, 2022.
While competing with Medvedev in chastising Ukraine and its supporters, Volodin has also rivalled another potential successor, Nikolai Patrushev, in disseminating conspiracy theories about the West, including one about “Washington’s involvement in the emergence of the coronavirus.” In fact, other than his descriptions of often draconian laws—which his lower chamber of the Russian parliament has been rubber stamping since before the invasion—we struggled to find recent claims on Volodin’s Telegram account that are backed by facts. It is important for our readers to keep this in mind when reading through the samples of Volodin’s public remarks since Putin’s return to the Kremlin in 2012 below. After all, knowing what the fourth highest-ranking politician in Russia publicly says on issues that impact vital or important U.S. interests, per our “Clues from Russian Views” approach, is important, but so is not taking for granted the dubious claims he routinely produces.
This is the third installment in our series on the views of Putin’s potential successors; the first covered Nikolai Patrushev, while the second covered Dmitry Medvedev. The quotes above are divided into categories similar to those in Russia Matters’ news and analysis digests, reflecting the most pertinent topic areas for U.S.-Russian relations broadly and for drivers of the two countries’ policies toward one another. Bulleted text that is not italicized, bracketed or in parentheses is a direct quote from Volodin. Quotes linked to English-language sources were taken from the source indicated; quotes linked to Russian-language sources were translated by RM. Entries in each subsection are in chronological order, from oldest to newest.
This item is also part of Russia Matters’ “Clues from Russian Views” series, in which we share what newsmakers in/from Russia are saying on Russia-related issues that impact key U.S. national interests so that RM readers can glean clues about their thinking. The opinions expressed in the compiled quotes are solely those of the (State Duma) speaker.
Photo by duma.gov.ru shared under a Creative Commons license.
Economy, demographics, military metrics and more—key quantitative data on Russia and its peers around the world.
View the discussion thread.
