[TheBigPicture]

Also, do you think the Kremlin is trying to tighten its grip (as the subtitle of this post implies)? Or do you think this is an innocent move on the part of Putin/Unity?

[A. Pole]

Also, do you think the Kremlin is trying to tighten its grip (as the subtitle of this post implies)?

Let us hope so.

Or do you think this is an innocent move on the part of Putin/Unity?

Politics and innocence do not mix well. As Graham Greene said "innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm."

[jb6]

Unity itself is a collaboration of smaller parties. As for Russia, Yeltsin told the local strongmen to take as much power as they wanted, they all but disintegrated the country, going so far as to even charge tariffs for trade from province to province. This is work to bring back a real federation from at best a loose confederation.