Word: kremlins
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Most famously, Litvinenko wrote Blowing Up Russia, which claimed FSB agents had actually planned the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings that killed over two hundred civilians and lead to the second Chechen war. Supposedly, the Kremlin had handcrafted a causus belli sacrificing hundreds of Russian civilians in order to invade Chechnya and prevent its independence. I wonder how many friends he had left at the FSB after such a thesis...
Litvinenko had myriad enemies, and the Kremlin was definitely topping the list. But either Putin has lost the art of subtlety, or the West is actually facing a scarier prospect: Russian leadership is losing even more control over its intelligence services. If that’s the case, then it’s indeed worthy to quote Dame Judi Dench in the latest Bond: “Christ, I miss the Cold...
...Russia's electoral system has, of course, been turned into a sham: Independent candidates are not allowed; only those on party lists can compete for seats in the Duma. And all the parties that have not been squeezed out of existence are rigidly controlled by the Kremlin. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the Kremlin has also scrapped the minimum turnout requirement to validate the election, to eliminate staying away as a means of sabotaging the stage-managed poll. Everything would seem to be under control. But, the big intrigue remains: Who will be Putin's heir, appointed if not anointed, just...
...powerful Kremlin faction wants the Boss to stay, insisting that the country needs him. Their real motivation, however, is the fear that anyone they appoint as a figurehead will inevitably claim the powers of the throne for real - just as Putin did. Although Putin delivered on the presumed promise of never touching the Yeltsin family, many a Yeltsin flunky lost his assets. The Kremlin power brokers want to prevent a repeat...
...step down. But changing the constitution's two-term limit on the presidency requires only a vote by two-thirds of the heavily controlled Duma, and two-thirds of the heavily controlled Federation Council (upper house) and a similar margin of votes by regional governors, all appointed by the Kremlin. Putin, presumably, will respect any such revisions to the Constitution...