Valentina Matviyenko was re-elected Wednesday for her fourth term as speaker of Russias upper house of parliament, the Federation Council.Matviyenko, 75, is third in line for the presidency, following the prime minister, in the event of Vladimir Putins death.We all work on the presidents team, Matviyenko said during the opening of the 178-member Federation Councils fall session, where she was unanimously re-elected.Matviyenko, who is also a member of Russias Federal Security Council, has held the role of Federation Council speaker since 2011, following her tenure as governor of St.
Petersburg from 2003.Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, allies of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny claimed that Matviyenkos family owns a villa in Italy along the Adriatic Coast.