Dmitry Kozak

Dmitry Nikolayevich Kozak (, ; ; born 7 November 1958) is a Russian politician who served as the Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff from January 2020 to September 2025. He previously served as the Vice Prime Minister from 2008 to 2020. He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.

Known as the Cheshire Cat () because of his smile, Kozak is part of the Vlast' () or power group from St. Petersburg close to Putin.

He served previously as the Regional Development Minister in the Russian cabinet headed by Viktor Zubkov from 2007 to 2008. From 2004 to 2007, he served as Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy in the Southern Federal District (North Caucasus and Southern European Russia).

Dmitry Kozak is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, having worked with him in the St Petersburg city administration during the 1990s and later becoming one of the key figures in Putin's presidential team. During the 2004 Russian presidential election, he worked as the head of Putin's election campaign team. Kozak chose not to run as a successor to Putin as president in 2008, saying he was "not ready". Provided by Wikipedia