MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev fired Moscow's mayor on Tuesday amid what analysts said was a struggle for power inside the Kremlin.
Medvedev, on a visit to China, issued a decree stripping Yuri Luzhkov, a Medvedev critic, of the job he had held since 1992 on grounds that he had lost the trust of the president.
Three TV channels controlled by the Kremlin had launched a campaign against Luzhkov this month, accusing him of corruption and abuse of office. They alleged that his wife, Yelena Baturina, benefited from city contracts awarded on preferential terms.
Changes in Russia's constitution allow the president to fire regional leaders such as Luzhkov. But analysts said the media campaign against him was less about his management of Russia's capital than a battle for power between Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was forced to leave the presidency because of term limits. Both are said to want to run for president in 2012.
Political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said: "Today's decision marked the beginning of Medvedev's own campaign for the next presidency and portrayed him emerging as the main leader of the country."
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