Mitch Hulse: Dismissal of Putin’s top aide reveals rifts in Kremlin security services

On August 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his long-time chief of staff Sergei Ivanov. Ivanov was the second most important person in the Russian political hierarchy; this is a major change in the Putin government with many implications. Putin replaced Ivanov with Anton Vaino, a former diplomat and head of Putin’s protocol office for many years. Vaino is a grandson of Estonia’s former communist leader.