Can This Man Piece Russia Back Together?

Facing a Kremlin onslaught, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov is fighting for his political survival

Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov is a hunted man these days. As a crowd of journalists tailed him on one of his traditional weekend walkabouts through Moscow building sites awash in wet snow and mud, he tried his best to look the jaunty, workaholic city boss of old. But when the journalists cornered him, the mayor admitted that his mind was elsewhere. He was waiting for the next body blow from the Kremlin.

He has good reason to be worried. For the past few weeks, day after day, Russian state television has been accusing Luzhkov of a lurid array of crimes--from...

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