mafia state
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Epitaph on a mafioso’s grave
Prigozhin thought that his ‘hard drive’ of Putin’s murky network of contacts, conspiracies and deals might save him, following his mutiny. He was wrong, writes the well-known Russian historian Vladislav Zubok. But his murder means Putin is now more Mafia Don than Imperial Tsar. -
Ukraine is pregnant with its own version of Putinism
On March 31 Ukrainians will vote for a new president. It looks like a run-off between Petro Poroshenko and TV comedian Volodymir Zelensky. This 'against-all' candidate with no political experience shows that a large chunk of the electorate is fed up with Poroshenko's Putinism-lite. The West prefers to neglect these signs, says journalist Leonid Ragozin.