Russia’s top duo fight to save reputation from flames
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MOSCOW — Be it dousing fires from a plane or sacking several officers in a single meeting, Russia’s ruling tandem is battling to ensure its hold on power does not go up in smoke in the wildfire crisis.
Image-making has emerged as significant a weapon in the crisis as hoses or water-bombing jets as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev seek to ensure their popularity survives the crisis intact.
With Russia emerging from the slowdown, the duo may have been congratulating themselves on deftly seeing off the economic crisis as they planned their summer holidays.
But then Russia found itself hit by a heatwave that wrecked 10 million hectares of land and triggered wildfires which have killed over 50 persons and burned down entire villages.... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100813com6.html
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