2 Leaders in Russian Media Are Fired After Election Articles

A high-ranking editor and a top executive from one of Russia’s most respected news publications were dismissed after an apparent conflict over coverage that appeared to highlight widespread anger with the results of parliamentary elections this month. The dismissals followed the publication this week of an election issue of the newsmagazine Kommersant Vlast, which detailed accusations of large-scale electoral fraud by the ruling party, United Russia, and included a photograph of a ballot scrawled with profanity directed against Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. The firings came as tensions built between the Kremlin and a new constituency of reform-minded activists who held a protest against the election results in Moscow last weekend that drew tens of thousands of people.