Russians thought that the end of the Soviet Union would bring in a new breeze of freedom and moral refreshment. It did...for a few months.But the sinister powers that control Russia's politics and crime syndicates (sometimes it's very difficult to tell the two apart) quickly connived to return Russian citizens back to the good old days: comprehensive corruption, violent crime (including the assassination of reformers and journalists), aggressive espionage, and numerous human rights abuses across the board, including religious and ethnic persecution.
Doug Bandow reports on this grim situation at American Spectator.
