In the past two years, the narrow circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin has shrunk to a very few who trust him and share his worldview, according to a report in the French newspaper La Croix.

The newspaper said in a report by its writers Olivier Thales and Benjamin Quinnell that Putin, since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, has been keen to appear as the sole commander of his country's ship, but he actually consults before making his decisions a handful of hawks in his administration and some of the highest ranks in the army.

At the beginning of her report, Lacroix mentioned the story of the very special meeting of the Russian Security Council that Putin called for on February 21 and attended by senior figures in the regime, and allowed, which is a rare thing, to be filmed for later broadcast on television.

She stated that the agenda was limited to one point: "Should or should we not recognize the independence of the separatist territories of Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine?"

Lacroix pointed out here that the head of the Kremlin was the one who distributed the speech to the attendees, and some of his ministers and heads of his security services were not spared the insults, which embarrassed his subordinates and made them search for words that are likely to satisfy the master of the Kremlin. According to Lacroix.

The newspaper stated that among those who attended that meeting were those who were aware of the "special operation" in Ukraine, according to the terminology used in Moscow, the preparation of which was in full swing and in the utmost secrecy.

She noted that these were not more than the number of fingers on a hand, and they were of high military ranks and belonged to the so-called "silovikis" category, that is, they were members of law enforcement and security agencies;

The real matrix of the Russian political system.

Nikolai Patrushev, the closest confidant to Putin (Reuters)

The report listed the names of a number of those it described as Putin's narrow circle:

First: Patrushev is at the heart of the system machine

After 22 years in power, who is still Putin most trusted?

It is the Secretary of the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, who is consulted by the president on sensitive issues, and he sees him at least once a week, according to Lacroix.

The newspaper reviews many points that it says that the two men share in common, as they are close in age, Patrushev (70 years) and Putin (69 years), both of whom are former KGB agents, both of whom hail from Saint Petersburg. They have the same position on the United States of America, and when Vladimir Putin left the FSB (the heiress of the KGB) in 1999, he appointed Nikolai Patrushev as his successor.

The newspaper quotes journalist Alexei Venediktov as saying that it was Patrushev who was formulating his options for Putin a few years ago, and "he could have challenged and discussed the president's options, but that is no longer possible."

Sergei Shoigu, planner of military operations (Getty Images)

Second: Shoigu, the enthusiastic servant

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu plays the role of a "zealous servant", as Lacroix describes it. Born 66 years ago in the Tuva region (Siberia), the man was not too far from his boss, who went with him to hunt and camp in his native region.

And Shoigu, according to the newspaper, is the one who oversaw the planning of military operations in Crimea, Syria and today in Ukraine, and he also controls military intelligence, but "if he previously enjoyed Putin's confidence, it seems that he lost some credibility since the outbreak of the conflict," she believes. Tatiana Jean is a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations.

The newspaper adds that Shoigu is above all an executor of orders, a role he shares with real specialists in the army such as Chief of Staff Gerasimov, who is the theorist of hybrid warfare, as well as with the heads of the security services, with whom Putin regularly consults.

The newspaper attributed the reason for the shrinking of the number of members of Putin's narrow circle to his decision not to meet anyone he wanted to see in private unless he imposed a two-week quarantine, which limited the barbecues he organized with his old friends from the oligarchs.

Even Igor Sechin, the powerful head of the oil giant Rosneft, is content with occasional meetings with Putin.

As for government ministers, they communicate with the president via video or sit 10 meters away from him, which is what the independent Russian political analyst Ivan Preobrazhensky comments on by saying, "Putin is isolated from reality ... and the information he receives comes from special intelligence agents, he does not use the Internet. himself, and confine himself to following his own propaganda on television.

Russian billionaire Yuri Kavalchuk (Reuters)

Third: Media Emperor

During the pandemic, Lacroix says one man was breaking through the health cordon surrounding Putin;

This is Yuri Kovalchuk.

It is the media mogul, as the newspaper describes him, who controls a quarter of the first public channel (Pervyï Kanal), and it is this billionaire who accompanied the president to his residence in Valdai, where he stayed in the spring and summer of 2020.

Kovalchuk also hails from Saint Petersburg from a family of historians, is a doctor of physics, is seventy and has nostalgia for the imperial past of Great Russia and the Orthodox world, which he shares with the head of state he knew in the nineties.

He is an influential person, according to Russian journalist Alexei Venediktov. "It was Kovalchuk who over the years shaped Putin's worldview.. He agrees with Putin in his war on Ukraine, as do others, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is very supportive of it."

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president, is now deputy head of the Russian Security Council (Reuters)

Fourth: a former president

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and prime minister, is described as a moderate, and that unique impression has been held by many for a long time, according to Lacroix.

But since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Medvedev was the first to endorse the Kremlin's military rhetoric, even going so far as to demand the reinstatement of the death penalty in Russia.

And it seems that this man, who is also the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, has earned a place in the Kremlin once again.

And Andrei Kolesnikov, a professor of political science at the Carnegie Endowment for Research, said, "Medvedev has retained little influence, but not to the point of influencing decisions made there."

As for the rest of the Russian elite, Lacroix says the "military operation" in Ukraine came as a surprise to her, and perhaps even caused her some discomfort.