Medvedev replaces chief of Russia's armed forces

MOSCOW: President Dmitri Medvedev dismissed the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces Tuesday, moving to tighten the Kremlin's grip on the massive military and its purse strings.

Medvedev announced the removal of General Yuri Baluyevsky, who was loyal to the Kremlin but had become an obstacle to a campaign launched by former President Vladimir Putin to tighten control over military spending.

Baluyevsky and other top brass have clashed with Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, a onetime furniture store manager appointed by Putin early last year with a mandate to clean up the military's finances.

While supporters said Putin appointed Serdyukov to cut waste and corruption in a military that mixes Communist-era management with acquisitive post-Soviet capitalism, critics said his brief is to ensure that the Kremlin controls the flow of money.

Whatever the case, Baluyevsky got in the way. He "was in an open fight with the defense minister, a fight to resist his reforms, and he was kicked out," said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst in Moscow.

Medvedev softened the blow by giving Baluyevsky another job in Russia's elite, making him a deputy chairman of the presidential Security Council. He praised Baluyevsky and decreed that he be awarded an Order for Service to the Fatherland medal.

Medvedev replaced Baluyevsky with a Serdyukov ally, General Nikolai Makarov.

The changes were announced at a meeting at the Kremlin and were featured prominently in state-run television newscasts. Medvedev stressed that he was accepting Serdyukov's recommendation, seemingly warning his critics in the military that the Kremlin was behind him.

"I received proposals from the defense minister on the appointment of a new" chief of the general staff, Medvedev said, his expression severe. He added: "I have studied these proposals and I support them."

Generals have grumbled loudly in recent months over initiatives to sell off lucrative military land, move the navy's headquarters from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and use civilians in support positions like legal and medical staff.

Baluyevsky publicly criticized the proposed navy move, and as Russia's top military officer he was seen as the representative of disgruntled generals who deeply distrust Serdyukov.

"The functions of the Defense Ministry and the general staff often intertwine, and when a new defense minister tries to pursue his policy, those who are unhappy with it gather around the chief of the general staff," Alexander Golts, a military analyst, said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

Medvedev's televised meeting also appeared aimed at underscoring his role as commander in chief, a job he assumed when he took over as president last month. Putin continues to wield major clout as prime minister and at times has overshadowed Medvedev, his hand-picked successor.

Felgenhauer said, however, that Baluyevsky's dismissal was not a sign of any power struggle between Putin and Medvedev, but was probably a joint decision that was made this year but delayed until after Medvedev's inauguration.

A career military officer, Makarov, 58, had been the commander of forces in Siberia before Putin named him the military's armaments chief in April 2007, two months after installing Serdyukov.

Felgenhauer said Makarov's job was "to perform one of the key missions Serdyukov was given - to put some order into the Defense Ministry and its procurement program, where the Kremlin believed there was too much graft."

While the reasons for the changes were largely internal, Baluyevsky's dismissal could lead to a decrease in Russian rhetoric targeting the West - though it is less likely to reflect a change in actual policy, which is in Kremlin hands.

Baluyevsky has been among the more vocal critics of U.S. plans to deploy missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, former Soviet satellite states in Europe, while Serdyukov has been quieter.

But Putin and others have also strongly criticized the plans, and Baluyevsky's assertion that the intent was to weaken Russia's nuclear arsenal does not differ from the Kremlin line.

"Baluyevsky is a very cautious person and he never has made any statements without the leadership's sanction," said Viktor Litovkin, a military analyst.

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