PoliticsHow Vyacheslav Volodin secured a record third term as Russia’s State Duma speaker — and why Putin keeps him there

Vyacheslav Volodin opened the new State Duma’s first plenary session and won a third term as speaker, surpassing Boris Gryzlov’s record of two terms. The article traces Volodin’s rise from Saratov politics through United Russia and describes how Dmitry Medvedev’s exclusion from the party’s national candidate list closed his route to the speakership, benefiting Volodin and the Kremlin’s domestic-policy team.

Russian politicsState DumaVyacheslav VolodinVladimir Putin

MMeduza★★★☆☆2026-10-01 20:55Original