TODAY: Moscow show-down approaches as Kremlin sources claim Mayor will be ousted; is the anti-Luzkhov campaign signs of a split in the diarchy?  Lukaschenko compromised by video campaign.  Poland vows to arrest Chechen rebel; Georgia seeks to sideline Russian language.  US and Russia sign military cooperation agreements; NATO opens door to Russia.  Police reform bill heavily criticized by public forum.

An unidentified Kremlin source has apparently told the Moscow Times that, in principle, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzkhov will lose his job, but the ‘operation’ to oust him could take two or three weeks; a statement backed by a Kremlin spokesperson.  ‘If Luzhkov prevails, the influence of television channels will be greatly reduced. How then are they going to hype Putin’s plan?: Solidarity head Denis Bilunov sees no possibility of reprieve for the mayor.  The TV campaign ‘was not to convince Putin that Luzhkov needs to be removed, but to sway public opinion against Luzhkov, thereby making it politically awkward for Putin — and, by extension, United Russia — to continue defending him’: a Vedemosti editorial speculates about whether the strategy is the work of President Medvedev in defiance of Putin – or in agreement.  Robert Coalson’s Power Vertical thinks it unlikely that ‘Medvedev has somehow wrested this huge asset away from Putin’.  The Independent reports on a viral video which claims that Vladimir Putin is plotting the assassination of Alexander Lukaschenko, which it sees as evidence of the increasing political isolation of the Belarussian strong man ahead of December’s elections.  ‘Luka’ can also look forward to being the namesake of an erotic movie by Russian Alexander Valov, whose previous films have included lookalikes of political rivals Mikheil Saakashvili and Yulia Tymoshenko in pornographic scenes.