PUTIN’S “JANUARY REVOLUTION”: WHAT DOES A NEW PROSECUTOR GENERAL MEAN FOR RUSSIA?

21 January 2020

SOURCE: KREMLIN.RU

PUTIN’S “JANUARY REVOLUTION”: WHAT DOES A NEW PROSECUTOR GENERAL MEAN FOR RUSSIA?

What came as one of the elements of massive reshuffles in Russia’s key institutions, marked by recent proposals to amend the constitution and the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev’s government, was the dismissal of the country’s senior prosecutor. On January 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired top prosecutor Yuri Chaika and nominated Igor Krasnov to replace him. This move has fitted into Putin’s political shakeup intended to initiate a generation change within the ruling elite. As a new presidential representative to the North Caucasus, Chaika is doomed to lose much of his political significance. What draws attention is a mere fact that this is yet another example of a political overhaul, with an unpopular politician, muddied by a series of corruption scandals, being replaced by an efficient technocrat who so far avoided the public spotlight, far from any controversy. The third issue these recent dismissals and nominations had in common is that they led to the promotion of officials who had not held close ties to mighty political or business groups that conflicted with Putin’s inner circle.

Born in 1975, Igor Krasnov is almost a quarter of century younger than his predecessor. Before, he had served as deputy chairman of the Investigative Committee, where he has earned the reputation of a very efficient investigator. Krasnov so far has led several high-profile criminal investigations. Unlike Chaika, he has not been embroiled