Kremlin fires iconic Moscow mayor after 18 years

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday fired Yury Luzhkov, ending the 18-year rule of the Moscow mayor who gave the crumbling metropolis a glamorous facelift but was maligned for outdated values and bellicose posturing.

Medvedev signed a decree relieving the 74-year-old mayor of his duties due to the president's "loss of confidence" in him, according to the Kremlin website.

After a series of minor scandals, speculation over the future of the flat-cap-wearing mayor swirled, forcing him to declare on Monday that he wouldn't quit. The next day he was removed by the president. Russian news agencies cited Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova as saying the Kremlin gave Luzhkov the chance to step down voluntarily.

"I decree that Yury Mikhailovich Luzhkov be dismissed from his position as mayor of Moscow due to a loss of confidence in him by the president," Medvedev's order said.

Luzhkov garnered criticism in July when repairs to the main highway leading to Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport created lengthy traffic jams.

Anger rose further when the mayor remained on vacation in Austria in August even as Moscow suffered through weeks of smog from nearby forest and peat-bog fires.

The final blow apparently came when Luzhkov criticized Mededev's decision to suspend building a highway through a forest outside Moscow.

Luzhkov's long tenure saw Moscow undergo an astonishing makeover from a shabby and demoralized city into a swaggering and stylish metropolis. Russia's capital sprouted gigantic construction projects — malls, offices, soaring apartment towers, all fueled with oil money.

Much of that work was done by the construction company headed by Luzhkov's wife, Yelena Baturina, who is believed to be Russia's only female dollar billionaire. Suspicions swirled consistently of corruption by Luzhkov to feed his wife's wealth.

Luzhkov was despised by preservationists for his administration's penchant to bulldoze historic buildings that sat on potentially valuable land.

Luzhkov also appalled human rights activists by his frequent denunciation of gay rights activists — at one point calling them "satanic" — and vehemently blocking their attempts to rally.

His bullying ways and reactionary stances had seemed in concert with the tough-guy years of Vladimir Putin's presidency and Putin tolerated him although the two were widely believed to dislike each other.

However, Luzhkov's demeanor contrasted with Medvedev's hesitant reform moves, and speculation about his imminent departure soared.