According to Eurasia regular Monitor, the turning point was the collapse of Dmitri Kozak, a erstwhile policy curator for Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Kozak lost influence after a series of failures, especially after the defeat of Russian attempts to interfere in the Moldovan elections. According to Kommersant, Putin liquidated his departments, giving their tasks to Sergei Kirijence. According to the RIDL.io (Russian global Affairs Council) analytical platform, the acquisition of these competences took place at a pace that demonstrated the informed decision of the Kremlin: by pushing Kozak away, Kirijenko's position was strengthened.
