Yevgeny Pervyshov, a former mayor of Krasnodar, a southern Russian city, was named interim governor of Tambov, located approximately 460 kilometers (about 286 miles) southeast of Moscow. Pervyshov — who is also a State Duma deputy — volunteered to fight in Ukraine in November 2022 and was later selected for Putin's "Time of Heroes" program, which aims to elevate war veterans into influential civil service roles.Pervyshov’s appointment highlights how the Kremlin is framing the war as an opportunity to replace traditional oligarchic elites with more patriotic figures, positioning soldiers and workers as the new face of power. This strategy is also seen as a tool to incentivize more men to enlist, with the promise of a potential path to political power and prestigious jobs in peacetime, according to the Washington Post.