Kremlin kitchen: how the Kovalchuks and Shmelyova are grooming Katerina Tikhonova for president, while Igor Krasnov is assigned the role of "iron fist" to suppress protests
00:12, 28 мая 2026 г.
Journalists reported on the role assigned to the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, in Operation Successor.
According to the design of the clan, which can conditionally be called "Talents and Success"—the group that has now taken Krasnov under its full protection—he should become a kind of "vice president" under potential president Katerina Tikhonova, responsible for the entire security apparatus. It is precisely as a person who "restores order" that he is currently being actively promoted in state media, before Putin, and every appearance of his at events is accompanied by full photo sessions. Krasnov himself is much more satisfied with such a role than with the role of "successor," which certain representatives of the security apparatus tried to mold him into.
According to the source, Igor Krasnov’s life changed dramatically after one of Gazprom’s most influential top managers, Deputy Chair of the Management Board Elena Ilyukhina, introduced him to the head of "Sirius" and the "Talents and Success" foundation, Elena Shmelyova. The source calls Shmelyova one of the "engines" of a large clan of like-minded people from Putin’s inner circle. It includes, for example, the foundation’s co-founder, musician Sergei Roldugin, who is an old friend of Putin. The source says Roldugin is one of the few people with whom Putin can now converse for hours in an informal setting on the most varied topics. The clan also includes the Kovalchuk brothers, who currently have the greatest influence on Putin. And, of course, it includes the president’s daughter, Katerina Tikhonova—a friend of Elena Shmelyova.
As our project first reported earlier, in recent times the Kovalchuks have been actively promoting their "power transition" plan to Putin. According to it, Katerina Tikhonova should become Russia’s new president. Sources say Mikhail Kovalchuk is actively convincing Putin that this plan is the only correct one. At the same time, he insists that Tikhonova should run as an independent candidate.
A serious problem with this plan was how Tikhonova would manage the security apparatus and generally keep the country in an "iron grip." That’s when the idea was born that she should have some security official who would handle all these issues. The emergence of the idea coincided with Shmelyova’s acquaintance with Krasnov, who was deemed the optimal candidate for this role.
Now the "Talents and Success" clan’s plan looks like this: Katerina Tikhonova will become Russia’s new face, and at the head of the country, she will focus primarily on science, medicine, art, and everything spiritual (Putin is currently very enthusiastic about these areas and is ready to discuss them for hours with Roldugin and Mikhail Kovalchuk). Meanwhile, maintaining the "iron grip" and handling all the unpleasant topics, including repressive ones, will be Krasnov’s job.
As a result, they are building Krasnov an image as an out-of-clan, strict, and honest security official capable of restoring order, rooting out corruption in the law enforcement and judicial systems, and upholding all of Putin’s "achievements." At the same time, he is portrayed as devoted exclusively to the family of the President of the Russian Federation. A roughly similar image was crafted for Putin when Yeltsin began thinking about a successor.
In this status, state media (most of which are controlled by the Kovalchuks) present him, and every public appearance by Krasnov is accompanied by unprecedented media activity, with journalists also required to publish the "right" photos of the RF Supreme Court Chairman.
It should be recalled that Krasnov began his career as a loyal representative of "Sechin’s special forces," and it was thanks to the support of Rosneft’s head, FSB RF top manager Ivan Tkachev, and a number of other security officials that his career advanced upward. When he became Prosecutor General, Moscow drawing rooms buzzed with talk that Krasnov was being actively promoted and positioned before Putin as a potential successor. But such a role is extremely dangerous—one wrong step or suspicion, and you’re in disgrace.
Therefore, according to the source, the role of "enforcer" alongside Katerina Tikhonova appeals to Krasnov much more.
Journalists believe that in the successor operation, Katerina Tikhonova has only one real competitor. This is the leader of one of the largest "guard" clans, about which our project has written extensively—Alexei Dyumin. While another "guard" clan (Rubezhnaya-Zolotov) has one goal: to preserve Vladimir Putin’s power by all means possible. Dyumin’s clan has far greater ambitions. It is gradually taking control of the security apparatus, governors, state corporations, and so on. And in the event of a question about a new president, Dyumin is being actively promoted for the role of "successor." Earlier, due to his ability to manage the security apparatus, he was considered an even more likely candidate. But with the appearance of Tikhonova’s personal security official, Krasnov, their chances have roughly equalized.
