Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Ousted Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov presided over a "pyramid" of corruption in the Russian capital that the Kremlin tolerated for political advantage, according to a document released by the website WikiLeaks on Wednesday.
Despite an anti-corruption campaign launched by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, "the extent of corruption in Moscow remains pervasive with Mayor Luzhkov at the top of the pyramid," according to a February cable from the U.S. Embassy there. "Luzhkov oversees a system in which it appears that almost everyone at every level is involved in some form of corruption or criminal behavior".
But for Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Luzhkov remained "a trusted deliverer of votes and influence" for their ruling party, United Russia. "Putin and Medvedev's dilemma is deciding when Luzhkov becomes a bigger liability than asset," the cable states.
Luzhkov apparently reached that point in September, when Medvedev abruptly fired the 74-year-old Moscow mayor. His dismissal came after criticism in Russia's state media that he had gone on vacation during a wave of forest fires that blanketed the capital in thick smog -- and after reports that he channeled funds and lucrative deals to his property-developer wife, now Russia's richest woman.
Luzhkov denied the allegations after his dismissal and told CNN that he was fired to enable the Kremlin to tighten its grip on power. He won a libel suit against an opposition leader who leveled allegations of corruption against the mayor, though the U.S. Embassy cable notes the judgment was issued on technical grounds.
The U.S. document, dated more than seven months before Luzhkov's dismissal, described a three-tiered "kleptocracy". CNN
