Yury Luzhkov

His father, Mikhail Andreyevich Luzhkov, moved to Moscow from a small village in Tver Oblast in the 1930s.

Yury Mikhailovich Luzhkov (Ю́рий Миха́йлович Лужко́в; 21 September 1936 – 10 December 2019) was a Russian politician who served as mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010.

Yury Mikhailovich Luzhkov was born on 21 September 1936 in Moscow.

Before the election of Gavriil Popov as the first mayor of Moscow, he also headed the capital in 1990-1991 as chairman of the Mosgorispolkom.

He was the vice-chairman and one of the founders of the ruling United Russia party.

During Luzhkov's time, Moscow's economy expanded and he presided over large construction projects in the city, including the building of a new financial district.

In April 1990, the new chairman of the Moscow City Council, Gavriil Popov, on the recommendation of Boris Yeltsin, nominated Luzhkov for the post of chairman of the Mosgorispolkom.

Following the August coup Luzhkov was appointed on 24 August 1991, without leaving the post of vice-mayor of Moscow, one of three deputy heads of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy, which was created to replace the Cabinet of Ministers, which had supported the coup, and became the last government of the Soviet Union.

He was responsible for questions related to the agro-industrial complex, trade, foreign economic relations and the social sphere.

2 months later it became known that Luzhkov left the committee due to employment as vice mayor.

Many old Soviet landmarks, such as Rossiya Hotel or Voentorg, were reconstructed or demolished, as well as several old buildings around the Kadashi Church in the proximity of the Moscow Kremlin.

Many neighbourhoods, like Zamoskvorechye, were dramatically changed.

Sculptor Zurab Tsereteli enjoyed Luzhkov's personal support in setting many of his works over the city.

In 1999, in order to improve the housing conditions of Moscovites, Yury Luzhkov initiated a major demolition programme to replace Moscow’s old five-story apartment blocks that were unsuitable for renovation because of the outdated technology used during their construction.

In April 2001, 63% of Moscow residents had a good or very good view of Mayor Luzhkov.

In 2003 Privacy International awarded Luzhkov the runner-up position in its Most Egregiously Stupid Award for the propiska rules.

However, Luzhkov's ratings steadily declined, and according to the latest poll from October 2009, only 36% of Muscovites viewed him positively.

Allegations of wrongdoing by Luzhkov had been made before, but he had been notable for never having lost a libel suit in his career, including against Boris Nemtsov, the newspaper Kommersant, and The New York Times.

Despite the lawsuit history between the two, after Luzhkov’s dismissal Boris Nemtsov said: ‘I can’t help feeling that the current investigation is more of a revenge against Luzhkov and Baturina, and not an attempt to restore a lawful situation.

I am absolutely convinced that the main task here is raiding with the help of the State.

The goal is to take Baturina's business from her for a pittance.

And criminal cases are just the way to do it.

It's disgusting to take part in marauding, and I will never do it.

Thus, the story of my conflict with Baturina is from now on completely over."

At the same time, he was accused of corruption, bulldozing historic buildings, and poor handling of traffic, as well as the city's smog crisis during the 2010 Russian wildfires.

On 28 September 2010, Luzhkov was fired from his post by a decree issued by then-President Dmitry Medvedev.

1,722 of them were to be razed by 2010.

The authorities stipulated that the apartment blocks could only be torn down and replaced after its residents had been moved into new housing.

Luzhkov's rationale for permanent living place (propiska) registration was that Moscow's city infrastructure could not handle a rapidly growing population.

Some of the most blatant limitations were removed by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court after a long fight with Luzhkov's lawyers, making the registration process somewhat simpler.

Luzhkov was dismissed by President Medvedev on 28 September 2010, after returning from a holiday in Austria, citing "loss of trust", a traditional Russian legal formula for dishonorable dismissal.

In recent years, the Kremlin had consistently been replacing old regional heads, elected during Boris Yeltsin's time, with younger candidates.

Pundits had been predicting Luzhkov's imminent ousting for years.

The September 2010 dismissal followed weeks of speculation regarding Luzhkov's position, caused by his questioning of Medvedev's leadership.

Government-controlled television channels had run programs criticizing Luzhkov's handling of the 2010 summer peat fires and accused him and his wife of corruption.

Some observers have seen this as being part of a struggle between Medvedev and then-Prime Minister Putin.

Luzhkov officially declared that he had left the United Russia party.

Luzhkov had sent a letter to the President on 27 September criticizing Medvedev's policy and his administration's actions.

According to the President's press-secretary Medvedev read the letter after the decision had been made but it would not have affected that decision in any case.

In November 2010 Luzhkov gave an interview to the Telegraph newspaper stating that he was sending his daughters to study in London "to protect them from possible persecution".