Lawmakers are ‘watching with popcorn’ as a turf war erupts in Russia’s parliament. Leonid Slutsky lost his committee chairmanship — but refuses to vacate his office.

Russia’s new State Duma is facing its first internal power struggle, a standoff between LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky and United Russia’s Pyotr Tolstoy. Meduza learned of the standoff from a source close to the Duma administration’s leadership and from an LDPR member. A political strategist who works with the Presidential Administration’s political bloc and with Russia’s systemic parties confirmed the account.