Word: kremlins
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Kremlin sources do claim, however, that Lebed has in recent weeks tried to extend his control over the country's security and military structures. And they were clearly unnerved last week when Lebed denounced the Defense Ministry's intention to reduce the size of the airborne forces, including some of Russia's last remaining elite troops. Lebed, a former airborne officer, railed against Defense Minister Igor Rodionov's planned cuts. They were "criminal," he said, thus bringing into the open a monthlong rift with his one-time protege in the Defense Ministry. A senior airborne officer also spoke out against...
...charge to force Lebed out, has been a vocal opponent of the peace agreement, and is widely suspected of wanting to resume combat in Chechnya. The Interior Minister last week went so far as to hint broadly that Lebed had links with Chechen organized crime. Even some Kremlin sources who view Lebed's departure with satisfaction are worried about Chechnya. "I don't know if Kulikov has the brains to avoid a renewal of fighting in Chechnya," said the Kremlin adviser. "But the President has to put all his energies into avoiding a further outbreak of fighting." Still, on Saturday...
Nevertheless, dropping the general is still a big gamble for the Kremlin. Lebed remains far and away the most popular politician in the country. If fighting in Chechnya breaks out again, warns Alexander Oslon, who polled for Yeltsin during the presidential campaign, Lebed's popularity could take on "legendary" proportions. At the very least, Oslon says, the infighting that has accompanied the Lebed affair will deepen public disillusionment in the political process...
...pinning their hopes on is that he will finally sully his squeaky-clean image because of his new alliance with that other out-of-work general, Alexander Korzhakov. Korzhakov is not viewed as either clean or an outsider. He is widely alleged to be corrupt, and is a muddied Kremlin infighter. But during his postdismissal press conference, Lebed strongly defended Korzhakov as a "slandered Russian general." He borrowed some of Korzhakov's language and analysis, describing Chubais disparagingly as Russia's "regent" who had deliberately undermined Yeltsin's health by pushing the President too hard during this year's election...
...tool for understanding the place is a thorough knowledge of Monty Python. Only this enables you to fully grasp the whiplash-like changes, from comedy to tragedy and sobriety to surrealism." A nose for news helps: Quinn-Judge was already at work on a story about infighting in the Kremlin when the firing of General Lebed proved the prescience of his reporting...