luzhkov

One of Mr Luzhkov's offences was to seem to belittle the office of the presidency itself.

Eventually, the Kremlin lost confidence in him just as it had lost confidence in Mr Luzhkov.

Mr Luzhkov's departure was not itself such a shock, after a furious open fight had broken out with the Kremlin some weeks ago.

The 74-year-old Mr Luzhkov was one of Russia's most powerful politicians and a senior figure in the ruling United Russia party.

As the crisis escalated Mr Luzhkov made the unorthodox decision to leave Moscow for a foreign holiday.

It was rather the challenge to the Kremlin's "vertical of power" ; in Mr Luzhkov's case a hint that regional elections ought to be revived.

Mr Luzhkov quit the United Russia party, which he helped to set up, and could have a destabilising impact on the political system.

He praised Mr Luzhkov's role in developing Moscow but stressed that the mayor was the president's subordinate.

After weeks of speculation, Yuri Luzhkov, the long-serving mayor of Moscow, was sacked by President Dmitry Medvedev.

It appears to be a rather adequate response to Ukraine's decision to ban mayor Luzhkov.

Mr Luzhkov is the embodiment of a 1990s paternalistic leader who ran Moscow as his fief, drawing on the support of the population.

But perhaps the most blatant attempts to downplay the disaster have come from the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov.

United Russia activists defied the rain today to hand out copies of a newspaper urging Muscovites to vote for Luzhkov's party.

Mr Luzhkov is as unlikely a champion of democracy as the Kremlin is a fighter against corruption.

in Mr Luzhkov's case a hint that regional elections ought to be revived.

A shortlist of four candidates to replace Yuri Luzhkov, the sacked mayor of Moscow, was presented to President Dmitry Medvedev.

Mr Putin has long been intolerant of alternative centres of power in Russia, but he owed Mr Luzhkov a favour for his backing in 1999.

However, Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov has said Cherkizovsky Market will not reopen.

Luzhkov is also constructing a gigantic office in Sukhumi to coordinate investments from Moscow, to be called the Moscow Center.

But by sacking Mr Luzhkov, Mr Medvedev has tried to show he is an independent political actor.

A fight between Mr Luzhkov and the Kremlin does not mean that either party is a force for good.

As the fires around his city choked the skies with smoke last week, Luzhkov was away on holiday.

The implications of Mr Luzhkov's sacking for Russia's political future are less clear.

The election comes at a tricky moment for Luzhkov.

Mr Luzhkov's ousting is the end of an era.

Most pundits expect that he will be rather drab compared with his predecessor, Yuri Luzhkov.

Mr Luzhkov, who had held the position since 1992, withstood weeks of pressure to step down voluntarily.

In September Mr Medvedev spectacularly sacked Mr Luzhkov, who had ruled Moscow since 1992, citing a "loss of confidence" .

He has also fired Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow's veteran mayor, for "loss of trust" .

Last year the Kremlin dented Mr Luzhkov's political machine by firing his police chief.