Since first becoming president of Russia in 1999, Vladimir Putin has held sway in Russia for two decades. In 2020, he introduced changes to the Russian constitution that not only extended his presidential term past 2024, but also positioned Mikhail Mishustin — a relatively unknown tax official — as his successor.

Mishustin has little political ambition and few backers in the government aside from Putin himself, which not only makes him easy for Putin to manipulate, but also reduces the chances of Putin being overthrown in a coup. Political analyst Kirill Rogov thinks that Putin is using this strategy to set up a government like China’s where he can continue to wield de facto power.

However, an anonymous Western European intelligence official told Business Insider that a power struggle is still likely to happen when Putin’s rule inevitably ends. The official likens the future fallout to the scenario portrayed in “The Death of Stalin,” a 2017 dark comedy movie that shows Soviet politicians jockeying for power after the dictator Joseph Stalin’s death.