The grandiose ceremony celebrating Putin's inauguration in 2001 was very much like the coronation of a tsar. Today, he practically rules alone, controls the Duma and amends the Constitution as he pleases. The press is gagged and freedom of expression will hardly have lasted.
At the same time, Putin is waging a merciless war on the men who brought him to power: Russia's richest businessmen. They are being thrown into prison and their companies seized. The stakes are enormous: control of the country's resources - oil, gold, aluminium and the media - worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
According to Putin, this is a "reappropriation" of assets belonging to the State that had been misappropriated through fraudulent manoeuvres...
Documentary: The Rise and Fall of the Russian Oligarchs (2005)
Direction: Alexander Gentelev
Production: Point du Jour
#fulldocumentary #documentary #film #politics #poutine #russia #ussr #russianoligarchs #history #geopolitics #history #kremlin
