Kremlin image-maker turned critic Gleb Pavlovsky dies at 71

MOSCOW (AP) — Gleb Pavlovsky, a Soviet-era dissident who served as a Kremlin political consultant helping burnish President Vladimir Putin’s image, has died. He was 71. Pavlovsky was widely seen as one of the architects of Russia’s political system and a top adviser to the Kremlin during the early period of Putin’s rule. Pavlovsky’s death on Sunday was announced by his family on his messaging app channel. Pavlovsky began working as a political consultant in the 1990s. In 1996 he helped Russia’s first President Boris Yeltsin run a successful re-election campaign. When Yeltsin stepped down to anoint Putin as his preferred successor, Pavlovsky helped organize Putin’s first election in March 2000. He continued to consult the Kremlin until losing his job in 2011.