[67768] Dramatic round of dismissals in Moscow: Mayor Sergei Sobyanin dismissed eight district administration heads

Shake-up in the Moscow municipal government: Eight district heads dismissed simultaneously

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has signed decrees to release eight city district managers from their positions all at once. The districts affected by the move include Arbat, Krylatskoye, Kryukovo, Severnoye Tushino, Savelovsky, Severnoye Butovo, Kuzminki, and Vostochnoye Izmaylovo. According to official reports, all the officials left their posts "of their own free will."

Numerous media outlets, including TV Rain, known for its critical line toward the Russian government, noted the names of the officials who finished their terms, among them Andrey Zhuravlev, Ivan Lakhanov, and Yuri Nechayev, without providing an official reason beyond the conventional resignation phrasing. In "Novaya Gazeta" news, they questioned what could be the reason for such massive dismissals in one day, while the "Reporter" channel, identified with a line supporting Kremlin policy, presented the move as a "necessary refresh" for a complex administrative system that must be updated.

Parallel to the reports on the dismissals, interpretations were raised in the local media system. The Telegram channel "Kotel #6", which demonstrates support for President Putin and criticism of Moscow's conduct, linked the event to internal power struggles between Sobyanin and Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov, alleging a tense relationship and attempts by Vorobyov to demonstrate power at the expense of the Moscow mechanism.

Activist Dmitry Demushkin took the opportunity to criticize the centralized system of government in Russia, claiming that the local government system has been almost completely eroded. According to him, the government schools have turned the heads of authorities into "temporary managers" without real authority, when the vast majority of positions are staffed by people coming from outside their districts.