THE RESIGNATION of Russian President Vladimir Putin's top economic adviser, Andrei Illarionov, was an uncommon gesture of integrity.... He described as ''swindles of the year" recent notorious takeovers of private energy companies by state-owned outfits. He also crossed a red line by praising the Ukrainian government of President Viktor Yushchenko for annulling the fraudulent sale of a state-owned steel plant to the son-in-law of his corrupt predecessor, Leonid Kuchma, for only $800 million. The plant was then sold to a German firm for $4.82 billion. Illarionov had to know that spotlighting the Putin clique's particular shady deals, and lauding Yushchenko's...