Just as independent military analysts predicted, Colonel-General Valerii Manilov has been dismissed as senior deputy chief of the General Staff. The presidential decree said Manilov was leaving "because he has reached the upper age limit for military service". Manilov coordinated all his actions - whether on Chechnya or the Kursk submarine disaster - with the staff of Sergei Yastrzhembsky; according to our sources, with his departure the Defense Ministry will lose the information initiative entirely. This will gradually be transferred to the staff of presidential aide Yastrzhembsky. After Chechnya and the Kursk, the next PR campaign order will probably involve the military reforms; according to the "civilian" defense minister, we will only see the fruits of these around 2004-05.