Russia's top man in the North Caucasus, that includes rebel Chechnya, has told President Vladimir Putin his policy of nominating rulers in the turbulent region could spawn the chaos it is meant to prevent. Dmitry Kozak, a Kremlin high-flier appointed Putin's envoy to the region after the Beslan school bloodbath, painted a startling picture of Moscow-installed leaders surrounded by clan cronies with whom they shared out spoils.
His report, leaked to a Moscow daily newspaper on Thursday, accused leaders in the region, that also includes Muslim Ingushetia and Dagestan, of handing out top jobs to their kinsmen.
"As a result, the whole system of checks and balances has been destroyed which is leading to a spread of corruption," Kozak said.
Many analysts have said the Kremlin's policy of opting to support a single group over others could be fatal for stability in a region that depends on a balance of clan interests. The report, whose contents were published in Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper and confirmed by a Kozak aide, amounted to a highly unusual warning that Kremlin policies in the tinderbox region were bound for disaster.
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