27 June. Traffic chaos as Leningradskoe Shosse, the main motorway to Sheremetyevo Airport, is suddenly reduced from 12 lanes to 2 for mysterious road works. Luzhkov is not seen to act; in fact, there are rumors that he instigated the chaos to encourage passengers to fly from Vnukovo Airport instead. Vnukovo is owned by Moscow City.
July, August. Peat fires in the countryside outside Moscow and the worst heat-wave in decades created hellish conditions in the capital. The mayor chose summer for an untimely vacation and prioritized tending to his prized bee hives.
23 August. 2,000 protesters gather on Pushkin Square in central Moscow to oppose the construction of a new motorway through the 2,500 acre Khimki Oak Forest in the northern outskirts of Moscow.
26 August. Medvedev announces his decision to halt construction of the Khimki Forest motorway on his videoblog.
6 September. Luzhkov writes an article for Rossiskaya Gazeta, the newspaper of the government establishment, criticizing President Medvedev’s decision to halt to motorway construction.
10 September. NTV airs an anti-Luzhkov documentary called “The Cap Affair.” NTV is controlled by the federal government. The documentary launches an aggressive media smear campaign against the mayor.
17 September. Sergei Naryshkin, head of the Presidential Administration, calls Mayor Luzhkov to a meeting at the Kremlin. According to Luzhkov, Naryshkin asked him to leave “his own initiative” and to “go quietly.”
20 September. A source in the Kremlin tells Interfax newswire that “Moscow’s authorities have gone too far in their attempts to create a clash between the president and the prime minister. These attempts will not be left without proper reaction.”
21 September. Pro-Luzhkov television station TV-Center promises to air a documentary countering NTV’s “The Cap Affair,” which TV Center journalist Andrei Karaulov calls “the biggest pack of lies I heard in my life.” The show is pulled in the last minute and never aired.
27 September. Luzhkov sends a letter to President Medvedev, leaked to Novye Vremena magazine, in which he refuses to resign. The letter accuses Medvedev of reneging on his promises to strengthen democracy and of a media smear campaign against him.
28 September. Natalia Timakova, spokesperson for Dmitry Medvedev, announced on Tuesday morning that the President had signed a decree relieving the Mayor of his duties due to “loss of confidence.” Later in the day, Natalia Timakova confirmed that the President had no plans to meet with Luzhkov on his return from China. By the end of the day, Yuriy Luzhkov had resigned from the United Russia party which he founded.
Possibly related posts:
Khimki · Luzhkov · Medvedev · Moscow · Russia
Global Voices in English » Russia: Moscow Mayor’s Dismissal and Some “Kremlinology” · 10 October 2010 at 01:50
[...] Pipeline had a quick look at Luzhkov's “last weeks” in office, and, in a four-part series, dissected various aspects of the Sept. 28 dismissal, [...]
Russia: Moscow Mayor’s Dismissal and Some “Kremlinology” :: Elites TV · 10 October 2010 at 04:23
[...] Pipeline had a quick look at Luzhkov’s “last weeks” in office, and, in a four-part series, dissected various aspects of the Sept. 28 dismissal, [...]