What's your opinion of the Russian Nationals controversy?

[K]

So, in case you're out of the loop, the Russian Nationals Men's result was:

1. Evgeni Plushenko (of course)
2. Sergei Voronov
3. Konstantin Menshov
4. Artur Gachinski
5. Maxim Kovtun

However, when selecting the team to go to the European Championships, the committee selected 1. Plushenko, 2. Voronov (as they had to per the rules), and then skipped right to 5. Kovtun.

Their excuse was that they wanted a younger skater on the team (Kovtun is 18, Menshov is 29), but as Alexei Mishin pointed out afterwards, if they wanted a younger skater, shouldn't they have gone to 4. Gachinski (19 years old)?

Maxim Trankov then started a protest on Twitter to support Menshov's selection. Even Kovtun tweeted the hashtag they were using.

Now the Federation is saying that if Voronov and Kovtun don't do well at Euros, there will be a skate off between Gachinski and Menshov for the Worlds spot.

Opinions?

(Personally, I think Menshov earned his place and should have gone. The fact that Kovtun could not beat Gachinski, who is having a rotten season, even when Kovtun's marks were inflated ridiculously, does not speak volumes for Kovtun.)