Russian governors resign as economy contracts 8.8%

 Reuters:

...

Though Russian regional governors are elected, they are politically subordinate to the Kremlin. Several of the outgoing governors represent regions where the ruling bloc United Russia took weak vote shares in parliamentary elections last year.

Unpopular governors are regularly removed from office, often submitting their resignations in clusters in the spring months.
...

Ilya Grashchenkov, head of the Centre for the Development of Regional Politics think tank in Moscow, said the Kremlin was removing weak governors amid a worsening economic outlook for the country, driven by Western sanctions.
...

Putin's war led to the sanctions which are the primary cause of the contracting economy.  The governors appear to be the fall guys for Putin's miscalculations. 

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