Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov still had so many plans. Barely back from his birthday trip to the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel, he was busy planning his next excursions. He wanted to go to Munich, Vietnam and Kazakhstan. But things didn't quite work out as planned.
On Wednesday, Luzhkov, 74, was fired by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. As justification, Medvedev said in a presidential decree that the mayor has lost "the trust of the president." The Kremlin had clearly lost patience after the public power struggle with Luzhkov, which has attracted considerable media attention in Russia and internationally in recent weeks. In response to the last warning from the Kremlin, which had asked Luzhkov to resign "of his own accord," the powerful mayor said Monday that he had no intention of stepping down.
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