The band of Manchurian guerrillas who had attended the state's birth appeared bound by almost chivalric oaths of fealty, trust and reciprocal obligation.
Zhukov first showed his extraordinary mettle against Japanese forces on the Mongolian-Manchurian border during the summer of 1939, where the two sides were vying for dominance.
Think of films like The Manchurian Candidate, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and even Election which focused on a high-school race but still featured plenty of intrigue.
As I quipped on Twitter this morning, if Ivanishvili (someone who has repeatedly and forcefully advocated on behalf of EU and NATO membership) is really the best Manchurian candidate that the Russians can dig up, then their bench is even thinner than I would have guessed and the GRU and the FSB need to urgently re-evaluate their recruiting procedures.