When Russian president Dmitry Medvedev sacked longtime Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov last month, it was a chance to turn the page after nearly two decades. Exactly what the shakeup means for Muscovites is up for speculation, however, largely because Medvedev’s pick to replace the 18-year incumbent is a little-known technocrat named Sergei Sobyanin. We talk with Northwestern University’s Georgi Derluguian about the reasons behind the shakeup, the power of Moscow’s mayoral post and the man picked to run Russia’s capital.
