[se99tp]

It is often assumed that Putin and his cohorts are interested only in personal wealth and expansion of Moscow's power for the same purpose. This essay written on the anniversary of Yanaev's putsch in Kremlin debates this argument.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

Excellent post. Anatoliy Golitsyn and other KGB/FSB defectors told us all of this a long time ago. No one listened.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

In all fairness, if you go back to before the communists, the Czars were just as obnoxious. It was called “The Great Game” and even Kipling wrote about it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game

Even the US participated in it a bit, just two years after our civil war, with the Alaska purchase. The Brits were all in favor, as it cut off the Czar from North America, and anything that limited his reach was good as far as they were concerned.