Putin's Prisoner

Kremlin's Win Is Russia's Loss

After three weeks of further farce in the courtroom in Moscow, it was finally announced that Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

The Moscow Times today writes about "a blast of Siberian winter smacking us right in the face."

That's unfortunately what it is. Russia is a country of vast potential, and an important part of the better Europe we are seeking to build.

But without the rule of the law Russia risks degenerating into a stagnating and bureaucratic petro-autocracy.