Is The Kremlin's 'Gray Cardinal' Behind Russia's Grab Of Crimea?

Vladislav Surkov and Vladimir Putin

Is This the Mastermind Behind Russia’s Crimea Grab? -- Anna Nemtsova and Eli Lake, Daily Beast

Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin's 'gray cardinal,' is at the top of the U.S. sanctions list. Is he pulling Putin's strings?

When, as a response to the Kremlin’s takeover of the Crimea, the White House issued its first list of Russian officials subject to visa restrictions and asset freezes, many in the Moscow elite wondered why Vladislav Surkov made it to the very top of the roster. Or, rather, why now?

For years Surkov was a shadow towering behind the presidents of Russia, including and especially Vladimir Putin. He was the ideologue, the strategist, the éminence grise. Russians, who are well-versed in the romance of “The Three Musketeers,” liked to call him “the gray cardinal,” after one of the masters of intrigue in the treacherous court of Louis XIII.

But even the mightiest courtiers fall out of favor, and since Putin’s reelection in 2012, Surkov’s influence had seemed to be waning – until the crisis in Ukraine. Over the last several months, according to U.S. officials who spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity, the White House has come to believe that Surkov is Putin’s key advisor on the Russian propaganda campaign against Kiev and the referendum in Crimea that lead to annexation on Tuesday.

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My Comment: As a Kremlin watcher, I have been watching Vladislav Surkov for years. He has an uncanny ability to understand Russian national and international political trends, and he has positioned himself to be the trusted adviser to Russia's political elite. But is he the mastermind behind Russia’s Crimea grab .... I doubt it. That "honor" belongs to Vladimir Putin.