The Kremlin reportedly wants to cut loose Khahassia's governor

The Kremlin is supposedly urging acting Khahassia Governor Viktor Zimin to drop out of his reelection race, after he failed to win a first-round election on September 9. Sources close to the Putin administration told the newspaper Vedomosti that the situation in Khakassia has become “unmanageable,” complaining that the regional government has run out of money to pay civil servant salaries and needed outside intervention. “Let anyone take over, so long as it’s not him,” a source said.

Denying the rumors, Zimin told the radio station Govorit Moskva on Tuesday that he expects to win the runoff vote.

In Sunday’s election, Communist Party candidate and Abakan city councilman Valentin Konovalov surprisingly outperformed Governor Zimin, 44.81 percent to 32.42 percent.

What are these runoff elections?

United Russia candidates failed to win more than half the votes in four of Sunday’s gubernatorial contests. According to Vedomosti, acting Primorsky Krai Governor Andrey Tarasenko can count on the Kremlin’s endorsement, while “there are some doubts” about the Putin administration’s support for the incumbents in the Khabarovsk and Vladimir regions.