Is There A Political War Within The Kremlin?

Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast: Arrest of Putin’s Economy Minister Exposes War in the Kremlin

For years, Putin has played his intelligence and military cronies off against the so-called liberal elites he nurtured as well. Now their fight is out in the open.

On Tuesday Russia woke up to the biggest bribery scandal in years, the arrest of Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev. The investigators claimed that they detained Ulyukayev after receiving information from the oil giant Rosneft, a company managed by Igor Sechin, one of Russia’s most powerful men and a close associate of President Vladimir Putin.

By the end of the day, Putin had fired Ulyukayev, saying he had "lost his trust." The accused is to be held under house arrest at least until the new year.

The economy minister allegedly tried to extort a $2 million bribe from Rosneft in exchange for approving the company’s deal purchasing state shares of another oil producer, Bashneft. The Investigative Committee, which brought the charges, said that minister Ulyukayev used his authority to create problems for Rosneft’s activities and that the minister would hear the detailed counts against him in the near future.

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WNU Editor: When So many of Russian President Putin's inner circle live in palatial homes on their little government salaries .... you have to wonder why is this arrest making the news. My take is that this is more to this story, and that this arrest is a warning to everyone that with Russian Presidential elections around the corner .... they better keep their greed and corruption to themselves.