A new broom sweeps the cleanest: Medvedev's purge of Putin's children.

Yesterday, 3rd August,  President Medvedev signed an executive order appointing Lieutenant General Andrei Shvaichenko to the position of commander of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces and releasing him from his previous duties as chief of staff and first deputy commander of the Strategic Missile Forces.
The same executive order released Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov from the post of commander of the Strategic Missile Forces and retired him from military service.
 
Solovtsov was an anachronism - a cold war relic who enjoyed the patronage of Vladimir Putin. It was Solovtsov who threatened Poland and the Czech Republic with Russian nuclear weapons when those states supported the US missile defence shield. When President Obama recently held meld meetings with the Russian leadership, Putin emphasised his intractible position on this issue, stating that no negotiations were possible until the proposal was abandoned. Within hours, Medvedev made a groundbreaking deal with the US President, accepting Obama's assertion that the shield was (at this stage) non-negotiable.
The two leaders were able to proceed, to the great credit of Medvedev, who showed his understanding of the western position, and who was subsequently able to win great kudos as a result of his mastery of 21st century realpolitik. Solovtsov openly opposed the reductions in warhead numbers agreed by the two presidents.
Speculation is that Solovtsov fell out of favour primarily as a result of the failure of the Bulava ICBM , Putin's much vaunted favourite project, although it is also a fact that Solovtsov has reached the age of 60, and so is eligible for retirement.
 
This move must, however, be seen in the context of an obvious power struggle between Medvedev and his predecessor. Again and again Medvedev is showing his mettle, as Putin becomes ever deeper enmired in the nation's economic problems, for which as Prime Minister has full responsibility - the ultimate poison challice.