kravietz on Nostr: Sorry, but in 2002 Russia still had free media, independent judiciary and actual ...

Sorry, but in 2002 Russia still had free media, independent judiciary and actual political opposition. It took Putin a while to dismantle all that, take over NTV and all other private media, kill or exile opposition leaders and blackmail judges to serve rulings that he needed. After 10 years of the Chechen wars in which thousands of Russians were killed by other Russians, the public opposition to war was too strong and Putin too weak. It took him another 10 years to change that.