Putin Strikes Down a Powerful Ally

Russian President Vladimir Putin replaced his chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, on Aug. 12, demoting him to a menial position in what could arguably be called the fall of one of the most powerful men in Russia. Among the Kremlin elite, there are only a handful of Russians who can be considered influential, or who can claim to be a part of Putin's true inner circle, and Ivanov has long been one of them....