Russian defence officials sacked

President Putin wants to reform the Russian military

President Vladimir Putin has dismissed six top officers from the Russian defence ministry.

In an unprecedented move, Mr Putin signed a decree which removed key associates of Defence Minister Marshall Igor Sergeyev.

The Kremlin added that the dismissals were routine changes in staffing but they are seen by analysts as a snub to the defence minister.

Public row

Russia has recently witnessed a bitter feud between the defence minister and the chief of staff.

The row broke Marshal Sergeyev's usual reserve

The Chief of Staff, General Anatoly Kvashnin, has suggested down-sizing Russia's strategic nuclear rocket forces by reducing the number of divisions and by integrating them into the air force.

The defence minister strongly opposes the idea and is believed to have threatened to resign if General Kvashnin's plans were implemented.

The usually reserved Marshal Sergeyev described General Kvashnin's suggestions a "psychotic attack" and his ideas as "plain madness".

When the row between the two men became public two weeks ago, President Putin stepped in to mediate, summoning the pair to talks in the southern resort of Sochi.

Military reform

The defence minister appeared to be calmer following the president's intervention and said the cuts suggested had been reduced to a bare minimum.

General Kvashnin has proposed reducing the missile divisions

But in a further sign of the marshal's isolation, the first deputy chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Valery Manilov, declared on 31 July that the proposed reduction in the strategic forces was "unavoidable".

President Putin is backing the plans for military reform - side-lining his defence minister.

Strategic Missile Force

At the heart of the debate is the role of the Strategic Missile Forces.

In the Cold War, these were the elite troops, guarding the weapons which gave the Soviet Union its superpower status.

The BBC Russian affairs analyst Stephen Dalziel says that even Russian generals brought up on a diet of anti-Western propaganda now acknowledge that the strategic threat to Russia now and in the near future looks minimal.

He says that as a result, serious questions are being asked as to whether the defence budget could be spent more wisely.