Epstein Secrets

bjective and independent, Russian television and Russian media generally were no- table for their liveliness and diversity during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. All did not sing out of the same hymnal, and most influential outlets reflected a variety of opinions about government policies, including the Kr

Observatory delegation gave the referendum an enthusiastic thumbs-up.3 Moscow has paid considerable attention to evolving political developments in Central and Eastern Europe. Despite their relatively recent histories of Soviet subjugation and communist rule, a number of these countries have seen the rise of populist or

in Wall in 1989 the democratisation of the old Soviet Union seemed inevitable. In the 1990s Russia took a few drunken steps in that direction under Boris Yeltsin. But at the end of 1999 he resigned and handed power to Vladimir Putin, a former KGB operative who has since been both prime minister and president

s he will never tolerate. It would be the final straw in dismantling Russian attempts to extend its influence over the `near abroad'—those parts of Central and Eastern Europe that escaped domination by Russia in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Putin has several times invoked Russia's right to influe

objective and independent, Russian television and Russian media generally were no- table for their liveliness and diversity during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. All did not sing out of the same hymnal, and most influential outlets reflected a variety of opinions about government policies, including the Kreml

held them for two months before their release.”' Yet at the same time, the Kremlin was al- legedly fostering anti-fracking demonstrations in parts of Central and Eastern Europe.”? Russia organizes bogus election-monitoring missions that give a stamp of approval to polling in Crimea and other authoritar- ian settings, while e