How Volodin won a record third term as Russia's Duma speaker — and why Putin keeps him

Russia's newly elected State Duma has chosen Vyacheslav Volodin as speaker for a record third term, surpassing the previous record of two terms held by Boris Gryzlov. Opening the session, Volodin told lawmakers that Russia can only be defeated from within, citing internal conflict and weak leadership as the greater danger.

Ahead of both the 2021 and 2026 elections, United Russia leader Dmitry Medvedev reportedly sought the speakership, but Putin declined to place him atop the party's candidate list either time. Medvedev's exclusion from the 2026 list benefited Volodin and the Kremlin's domestic policy team, which worried his involvement could further hurt the party's already weak approval ratings.

From Saratov to the Kremlin

Volodin began his political career in the Saratov region, winning a city council seat as an independent in 1990. He later worked as an aide to the Saratov mayor and became a deputy regional governor. A falling-out with governor Dmitry Ayatskov in the late 1990s pushed him to Moscow, where he helped build Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's Fatherland movement.

After Fatherland's bloc finished third in the 1999 Duma elections, Volodin nonetheless won a parliamentary seat and soon aligned with Putin's camp. He rose quickly within United Russia, becoming secretary of its General Council in 2005 and earning a reputation as a demanding party manager who flew to regions during crises and promoted election-management practices developed in Saratov.

In 2010, Putin appointed Volodin government chief of staff, making him a top political strategist who devised the pro-Putin All-Russia People's Front. Following the 2011 Duma elections, Volodin led the Kremlin's domestic policy department, during a period when parliament passed a wave of restrictive laws.

In 2016, Volodin unexpectedly lost his Kremlin post and moved to the Duma speakership, where he has since cultivated a public image of staunch loyalty to Putin, frequently targeting Russian émigrés with harsh rhetoric. Sources close to Volodin told Meduza that this unwavering loyalty — rather than allegiance to any particular faction — is the key reason he has kept Putin's trust and his post.