Was the swan "removed" on purpose? Grigory Kogan cohen@smi.ru April 28 18:15 MCK

A well-known businessman hiding abroad from Russian law enforcement agencies, Boris Berezovsky , expressing regret over the tragic death of the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Lebed , did not rule out “the worst option - the violent destruction of Lebed.”

“You can make as many claims against Lebed as you like, but I think only now we will begin to understand that there are practically no bright people left in Russia,” Berezovsky said on the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

Berezovsky did not say who he blames for the death of the governor, but made a very transparent hint: “In a dispute between a gray president-colonel and a bright governor-general, of course, grayness wins. This is how Russian history works: grayness always wins in one way or another.”

Comment: Thus, the entrepreneur did not fail to take the opportunity to make another accusation against the hated President Putin. Berezovsky did not explain why Lebed could have displeased the president to such an extent (however, there was no direct accusation in his words).

However, in addition to Berezovsky, the version of the forcible removal of Lebed was expressed by the deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, a deputy from the Yabloko faction , Alexei Arbatov .

“For many years in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the governor was involved in very sharp “showdowns” that went on between various groups, often completely criminal, around huge property, gigantic resources of the region ,” said Arbatov. “ Undoubtedly, Lebed had a lot of enemies, and influential ones.”

According to Arbatov, Lebed's death "may well criminalize the situation in the region."

Arbatov's pessimistic forecast may turn out to be correct: it is obvious that after the death of Lebed, a serious struggle for power will begin in the region, in which large companies in the region, primarily Russian Aluminum, will take part. Whether the struggle for influence in the region will remain within the law is unknown.