...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...has sacked 18 high-ranking officers from their posts, according to a Ukrainian news website.
In a purging move by the embattled world leader, heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Drug Control Service and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation lost their jobs.
The dismissals, reported exclusively by Euromaidan Press, are said to have been carried out in secret.
While no official announcement appears to have been made by Mr Putin, news hounds have posted links to the Kremlin's official website — which can be translated into English — that show a list of staff "released" from their posts.
The move is understood to have been made on Wednesday, 6 August, but has not been reported in any of the mainstream media, either at home or abroad.
A number of high ranking military personnel are included among the 18 named.
The dismissals are laid out in two decrees. One has the rather abstruse title: "On the appointment, removal from office or dismissal from military service military personnel and employees of some federal government agencies."
A screen-grab from the Kremlin's official website which lists some of those "released" from their posts
The other is titled: "On the dismissal of employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation."