Putin meets his niece in the Kremlin
Putin during a meeting with his niece, government official Anna Tsivileva, in the Kremlin in April 2024
  • Vladimir Putin appointed a relative to a top defense position, reports say.
  • The relative, Anna Tsivileva, is Russia's new state secretary of defense.
  • UK intelligence said the appointment stretched even Russia's tolerance for nepotism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to appoint a relative to a top defense role tested "even Russian tolerance for corrupt practice," the UK's ministry of defence (MoD) said.

The Kremlin announced in August that Putin had appointed Anna Tsivileva, the daughter of Putin's cousin, as the state secretary of the military.