The nomination was approved by the State Duma with a clear majority of 392–56, with only communist deputies voting against. On 12 May 2008, Putin proposed the list of names for his new cabinet, which Medvedev approved. Most of the personnel remained unchanged from the times of Putin's presidency, but there were a couple of high-profile changes. Minister of Justice Vladimir Ustinov was replaced by Aleksandr Konovalov; Minister of Energy Viktor Khristenko was replaced with Sergei Shmatko; Minister of Communications Leonid Reiman was replaced with Igor Shchegolev and Vitaliy Mutko received the newly created position of Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth policy. In the presidential administration, Medvedev replaced Sergei Sobyanin with Sergei Naryshkin as the head of the administration. Furthermore, the head of the Federal Security Service Nikolai Patrushev was replaced with Alexander Bortnikov. With Medvedev's election as President and Vladimir Putin—still the country's most popular politician—as Prime Minister, Russia was faced with an unprecedented situation: the constitutionally powerful President was now flanked with a highly influential Prime Minister. Media speculation was rife as to who of the two would be the country's real leader. "Tandem rule" became a widely used term in the media. The most serious foreign policy event during Medvedev's presidency has been the 2008 South Ossetia war. Tensions between Georgia and Russian-supported separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia had been rising throughout the year 2008, with both sides accusing each other of preparing for a war. In the night of 7–8 August, Georgia launched a massive military attack against South Ossetia. 7 Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region were killed in the attack. Georgian side said, actions of Russian peacekeepers and Ossetians were provocative and they intended to make Georgian side forced to start military operation. On 8 August, Russia reacted by sending its military forces into South Ossetia and launching air strikes against Georgian military infrastructure. Russia and Abkhazia opened a second front by attacking the Kodori Gorge, held by Georgia. In five-days of fighting, the Georgian assault was repelled and its forces were expelled from both of the separatist regions. In September, the country was hit by the 2008 Russian financial crisis. Dmitry Medvedev attributed the decline in the Russian stock market to the impact of the liquidity crisis in the United States and contended that the crisis in Russia had little if anything to do with internal problems in its economy and government policies.