Head of Russian Armed Forces to quit
RUSSIA: The Russian armed forces chief of staff is close to
stepping down after falling out with the defence minister, media reports
in Moscow said Tuesday.
General Yury Baluyevsky has already tendered his resignation to
President Vladimir Putin, the English language daily Moscow Times said,
citing an unnamed ministry source. The source said Baluyevsky had
previously asked to be relieved of his post at least once, but had been
refused.
Baluyevsky has been angered by a series of reforms pushed by Defence
Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, according to Russian media. Serdyukov was
appointed last year.
"In the near future, the defence ministry's chief of staff, Yury
Baluyevsky, will probably leave," news site www.gazeta.ru reported
Tuesday. A former furniture dealer, Serdyukov is the second civilian to
head Russia's armed forces.
He has ruffled feathers in the ministry with plans to sell off
assets, move the navy headquarters from Moscow to Saint Petersburg and
with calls for job cuts in the ministry. The row comes at a sensitive
period in Russian politics. Moscow, Tuesday, AFP |