President Yeltsin's sacking of the Russian Prime Minister, Mr Sergei Stepashin, yesterday is only one of many government reshuffles that have taken place in post-Soviet Russia:
November 1991: Mr Yeltsin wins the right from parliament to run the government and appoints himself prime minister to carry out far-reaching market reforms.
June 1992: Mr Yeltsin names the reformer Mr Yegor Gaidar as acting prime minister. The Communist-dominated parliament never agreed to confirm Mr Gaidar in his post.
December 1992: Mr Yeltsin sacks Mr Gaidar under pressure from parliament and names technocrat Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, former head of huge natural gas monopoly Gazprom, to lead the government.
March 1998: Mr Yeltsin sacks Mr Chernomyrdin for being too slow in introducing reforms and names the little-known former, provincial banker and energy minister, Mr Sergei Kiriyenko, as prime minister. The Communist-led Duma rejects Mr Kiriyenko, a liberal, twice and approves him only under the threat of imminent dissolution.
August 1998: Mr Yeltsin sacks Mr Kiriyenko after a crisis in the markets, marked by default on some foreign debts and the devaluation of the rouble.
The Duma rejects Mr Yeltsin's choice, Mr Chernomyrdin, twice and the Kremlin resolves the issue by offering compromise candidate Mr Yevgeny Primakov, the foreign minister and a former spymaster. Mr Primakov, a conservative, wins overwhelming Duma approval on September 11th.
May 12th, 1999: Mr Yeltsin unexpectedly sacks Mr Primakov, thanking him for his performance but adding that Russia needed a more energetic premier. He names Interior Minister Mr Sergei Stepashin to head the government. Mr Stepashin wins parliamentary approval at the first attempt.
August 9th, 1999: Mr Yeltsin sacks Mr Stepashin without explaining why and names Mr Vladimir Putin, who also headed the influential presidential Security Council, and asks the Duma to confirm Mr Putin in the new job. The Duma has to consider Mr Putin's nomination by next Monday.