In 2002, Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov proposed returning the statue to its plinth, but the plan was ended by opposition from liberals and the national government.

After the raid, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said that " the operation was carried out brilliantly by special forces "; he claimed he had wanted a negotiated end to the crisis, but the final attack was made necessary by the reported killing of hostages.

Khachaturian's statue by was opened in Moscow on October 31, 2006. Notable attendees included Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov and Russia's First Lady Lyudmila Putina.

United Russia's predecessor was the Unity block, which was created three months before the December 1999 Duma elections to counter the advance of the Fatherland-All Russia ( OVR ) party led by Yuri Luzhkov.

The election results also made clear that Putin was going to win the 2000 presidential election, which resulted in competitors Luzhkov and Yevgeni Primakov dropping out.

Only once he was wrong when he sang in one of his songs: " They will never erect me a monument in a square like that by Petrovskye Vorota ", Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov said in his speech.

Yury Mikhaylovich Luzhkov () ( born 21 September 1936 ) is a Russian politician who was the Mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010.

On 28 September 2010, Luzhkov was fired from his post by a decree issued by President Dmitry Medvedev, in response for allegedly insulting Medvedev through a scathing letter.

Yury Mikhaylovich Luzhkov was born on 21 September 1936 in Moscow.

The club was even nicknamed " caps " by other fans, as reference to Luzhkov wearing a cap ), and tennis.

Luzhkov, who held the position of Chairman of the Moscow city government at the time ( i. e. head executive branch of the City Council ), was appointed Mayor by Boris Yeltsin on 6 June 1992.

Under Luzhkov, the city transport system was expanded significantly.

In November 2010 Luzhkov gave an interview to the Telegraph newspaper stating that he was sending his daughters to study in London to protect them from possible persecution.

During his time in office, Luzhkov was criticised for massive corruption, giving preferential deals to the construction company of his wife, Yelena Baturina, who became a billionaire during her husband's mayorship.

Luzhkov is also accused of brutal suppression of opposition protests, and he was widely condemned for leaving Moscow during the smog crisis resulting from 2010 Russian wildfires.

On 12 May 2008 Luzhkov was banned from entering Ukraine.

It was Luzhkov who controversially ordered the destruction of houses built in the Rechnik neighborhood of Moscow.

" Residents claim that Soviet-era permits to the land, which was set aside as a gardening collective in the 1950s, gave them de facto title over the land the houses are built on and many of these titles were bought or inherited from the original owners ; Luzhkov was accused lobbying the interests of building companies.

Nevertheless, Luzhkov stated that the city was ready to provide full compensation by offering other land plots in the vicinities of Moscow for veterans of the World War II who lived in the Rechnik since the Soviet times.

Her husband, Yuriy Luzhkov, was mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010.

After Luzhkov became the mayor of Moscow in 1992, Inteco grew quickly, and he was accused of corruption because he awarded municipal contracts to his wife's company.

In September 2010, Russian federal television stations NTV and Russia 24 aired a number of broadcasts critical of Luzhkov, sparking speculation that he would be dismissed soon from his position of the mayor of Moscow.

Pavlova's ashes have been a source of much controversy, following attempts by Valentina Zhilenkova and Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, to have them flown to Moscow for interment in the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Putin's principal opponents were the former Prime Minister Evgeny Primakov and the Mayor of MoscowYuri Luzhkov, backed by the alliance Fatherland-All Russia.

Luzhkov had recently criticised Medvedev's decision to halt the construction of a new highway through the Khimki Forest amid protests by environmentalists.

On January 14, 2006, Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone handed over letters expressing concern about the harassment of Russian Hindus by the Moscow Government and the Russian Orthodox Church to the visiting Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov in London, even as British Parliamentarians led by Ashok Kumar MP, Lord Dholakia and Baroness Flather got ready to host the launch of the Defend Russian Hindus campaign at the House of Commons on 18 January of the same year.

With the central government's authority greatly weakened, Gorbachev established a four-man committee, led by Silayev, that included Grigory Yavlinsky, Arkadi Volsky, and Yuri Luzhkov, to elect a new Cabinet of Ministers.

In autumn of 1999 the channel actively participated in State Duma electoral campaign by criticizing Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov, Yevgeny Primakov and their party Fatherland-All Russia, major opponents of the pro-Putin party Unity.

The band are known to be so disliked by the mayor of Moscow Yuriy Luzhkov, that he has cancelled all of their ever attempted large-scale events in the city during his long term in office.

In 1998, the town of Veliky Ustyug in Vologda Oblast, Russia was declared the home of the Russian Ded Moroz by Yury Luzhkov, then Mayor of Moscow.

Bure presented three of the gold replicas to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov.

Luzhkov had sent a letter to the President on the 27th of September criticising Medvedev's policy and his administration's actions.

* Luzhkov Says ' Nord Ost ' Will Return to the Stage-article on The Moscow Times ( subscription only )

The proposal caused a storm of controversy in Russia as well as international outcry, yet Luzhkov insisted on his plans.

Baturina met her future husband, Yuriy Luzhkov, in 1987 when they were both serving on the Mosgorispolkom, a Soviet-era municipal commission.

* September 21 – Yuriy Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow

According to a September 2010 poll, 65 % of Muscovites tend to credit Luzhkov for the high quality of life in Moscow.

In 2010, Yury Luzhkov made public his plans to honour Soviet leader Joseph Stalin with 10 posters of Stalin in the city of Moscow, for the first time in around fifty years after Khrushchev's criticism of Stalin-period policies ( see De-Stalinization ).

In November 2010 Luzhkov gave an interview to the Telegraph newspaper stating that the couple was sending their daughters to study in London to protect them from possible persecution from the Russian authorities.

* Yury Luzhkov ( born 1936 ), Mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010

He participated in the elections for Moscow mayor chair and finished second after incumbent Yuri Luzhkov.

* In June 2007, the Moscow OMON prevented gay rights activists ( including the European Parliament members ) from marching after Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov did not allow a planned parade to take place.