Anatoly serdyukov, Russia's de-fence minister since 2007 until November 6th when President Vladimir Putin fired him, was never much of a military man. He had previously sold furniture in St Petersburg and served as a tax minister. With little patience for the top brass (whom he called little green men), Mr Ser-dyukov was "unabashedly civilian", says Mark Galeotti of New York University. Many officers whose privileges Mr Serdyu-kov threatened rejoiced at his downfall.
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