Putin conferred the rank of Colonel-General of the Internal Service on Gostev, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service

The decree was promulgated on the official Internet portal of legal information.

"To confer the special rank of Colonel-General of the Internal Service to Arkady Alexandrovich Gostev," the text of the document says.

Earlier, Putin appointed Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Gostev director of the Federal Penitentiary Service.

In November, Putin removed Alexander Kalashnikov from his post as head of the Federal Penitentiary Service.