Word: grachev
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Lebed went on to claim that a group of top generals, some of those Grachev had called "my creatures," had hurried to the Ministry of Defense to encourage Grachev to stay on and persuade him to put troops on alert to "bring pressure on the President." Said Lebed: "I took measures of my own. I told the Ministry not to send Grachev's directives to the troops. Then I visited the headquarters of the Moscow military districts, where I met very decent people." According to defense analyst Vitali Shlykov, "Official cars kept rushing between the Ministry and the dachas...
First, on Lebed's demand, Yeltsin fired his loyal but hugely unpopular Defense Minister, Pavel Grachev. Then on Thursday the President purged three more hard-liners, including the man closest to him, his drinking buddy and tennis partner Lieut. General Alexander Korzhakov, who served as chief of security. The firings amounted to an almost clean sweep of the so-called Kremlin war party, an inner circle of authoritarian, antireform power brokers. Their departure could lead to a quicker end to the war in Chechnya, which the fired officials had originally urged on Yeltsin, and a return to influence for some...
...must try to win Lebed's 11 million voters at the polls next week. If it was Yeltsin and Lebed's plan to prove that the general is not merely a figurehead, they set to it quickly. In a TV interview last week Lebed claimed that he had fired Grachev. Lebed has been denouncing and sneering at the Defense Minister for years, so his arrival in the Kremlin did mean Grachev would have to go. But in fact it was the President who told his Minister...
Last month Grachev was summoned before the Communist-dominated State Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament). The Duma wanted an explanation for the slaughter of up to 93 Russian soldiers in a rebel ambush in Chechnya. Grachev publicly decried "all the outrages that are happening in this country" and offered to resign, should the Duma require it. "He was signaling to Yeltsin that his loyalty could not be taken for granted," says the defense analyst. "And he [was] also signaling to the opposition that he might not be all that loyal to Yeltsin anymore...
That backing is particularly important for Yeltsin if he tries to stay in power even after losing the election. It is significant that the men urging the replacement of Grachev are the strongest advocates of force. Korzhakov and Barsukov have reportedly been jealous of Grachev's closeness to Yeltsin. If they maneuver Grachev out and one of their candidates in, their hand will be strengthened. In particular, if Yeltsin elevates Kuznetsov, it will be a sign of trouble to come...