President Vladimir Putin on Friday appointed Lieutenant Colonel Artyom Zhoga, currently the Kremlin’s envoy to the Urals Federal District, to Russia’s National Security Council. Zhoga, a former military officer from the Russian-occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, gained prominence last year after publicly urging Putin to seek re-election in the 2025 presidential race. Earlier this month, Putin tapped Zhoga, a Ukraine war veteran, as his envoy to the Urals Federal District, a region critical to Russia’s vast military-industrial sector. Zhoga’s appointment makes him one of 21 non-permane…