Last week those authorities took the matter in hand. On Tuesday Russia’s controversial chief prosecutor, Yuri Skuratov, approved a warrant for the arrest of Berezovsky, a businessman known as much for his close ties to Boris Yeltsin’s Kremlin as he is for the wealth he accumulated since the demise of the Soviet Union. He was accused of illegally siphoning revenue from Aeroflot, the Russian airline in which he allegedly holds a stake. Hours later, the prosecutor’s office lobbed another bombshell: it also seeks the arrest of Aleksandr Smolensky, another of Moscow’s oligarchs, on an embezzlement charge. Smolensky runs SBS Agro, a large bank in which Berezovsky shares an interest. Smolensky, who has been in Vienna since February “recovering from the flu,” according to his lawyer, denied any wrongdoing.

Berezovsky, who was in Paris, quickly held a press conference. He denied the charges, said he had nothing to do with Aeroflot (an assertion banking sources in Moscow have flatly contradicted), insisted he would return to Russia to fight the charges and said the indictment had much more to do with politics than the rule of law. On the last point, there was no doubt he was right. Primakov is known to loathe Berezovsky, and going after him is politically popular in a country reeling from economic collapse.

But the politics of the indictment are more complicated than that–and are potentially explosive. Skuratov himself is in the midst of a bitter battle with Yeltsin’s Kremlin. Strongly backed by the communist-dominated legislature, Skuratov has threatened to bring corruption charges against members of Yeltsin’s inner circle–including his daughter Tatyana Dyachenko. Yeltsin tried to fire Skuratov three weeks ago, only to be blocked by the upper house of Russia’s legislature. Soon after that, a now infamous videotape of Skuratov in bed with two comely young women appeared on a government-owned TV station. Last week, the day after his office issued the indictments against the two men, Yeltsin again insisted he wanted Skuratov’s head. On Friday Russia’s Interior minister, Yeltsin loyalist Sergei Stepashin, said he would not arrest Berezovsky, despite the indictment.

How this turns out will have a direct effect on Primakov’s future and therefore on the presidential election scheduled for the summer of 2000. During a Friday television appearance, Yeltsin made it plain that he is not happy with his prime minister, no doubt because of his cozy relations with communists in the legislature who are trying to impeach the president. The Berezovsky indictment probably didn’t help. There is no question that during Russia’s years of bandit capitalism, Berezovsky had what the Russians call the ultimate krysha or roof (a term that means a form of protection): Boris Yeltsin’s family. Berezovsky is close to Yeltsin’s former chief of staff Valentin Yumashev–who remains an influential adviser. Through Yumashev, he established a relationship with Dyachenko, and has by all accounts helped the Yeltsin family manage its own money. Can Berezovsky still count on Yeltsin’s support in what now amounts to a total war with Primakov? Consider what the president said publicly about his prime minister on Friday: “He is useful for now. We’ll have to see what comes next.”