AFTER YUSHCHENKO, this is going to make a lot of people suspicious:

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) – Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who helped lead Georgia’s revolution that toppled the corruption-tainted regime of Eduard Shevardnadze, died early Thursday in a friend’s apartment from what officials claimed was an accidental gas leak from a heater.

Georgia’s interior minister said there was no reason to suspect foul play, but a lawmaker reportedly pointed the finger at “outside forces.” His remarks were aimed at Russia, which has ties with Georgia’s separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and prompted a terse response from Moscow.

I think that this is likely to hurt Putin’s position.

UPDATE: Thoughts on Georgia, and why it matters, here.