I found it very interesting that Kerry went out of his way to bash Russia in the first debate.
However, while the Yukos affair was certainly the turning point for most, the criticism has seemed to intensify after Beslan.
The Yukos reaction in t he West puzzled me - Yukos was built and run along Al Capone like lines - yes the owner of Yukos was trying to go legit the way Mafia dons went legit in Las Vegas but he was still a crooked figure and did not deserve so much sympathy as he got.