hn_123

Perhaps decades later ex CIA operatives in their memoirs might reveal the extent to which the agency was present and involved in the events during that period. It's naive to think otherwise considering they were all over various banana republics with much less at stake..

Time will tell.

Well, let's not under play the fact that Russia was and still is a resource rich country that everyone would love to have a piece of. At home and abroad. If you are interested - track down the story behind aluminum and diamond trade in the post USSR era. Very fascinating and reflects the general trend in the country.

Gaidar is not the person you want to listen to if you want an honest unbiased opinion on the events of that era.

I don't idealise west. I see propaganda on both sides of the fence. If anything living in Russia for extended period of time ( my formative years) made Me distrust all authority. Yes, multinationals were involved in the robbery of Russia in the 90s and they were helped by many who are still in power today and in the government. That's my point.

The fact today in Russia is that all power and wealth is concentrated in the hands of a well connected corrupt circle of people. They and their extended families stand to gain from the policies of the current "regime". The rest of the country stands to lose. It hurts me to see this, as I am working hard to get the rest of my family outta there ( its not easy to immigrate despite what Trump and others say)..

As I said this two faced regime with one hand criticizes the west and with another buys up properties and investments abroad to eventually to retire to with their families.

How come Putin sent his own daughter to live and work in Europe for extended period of time? How come members of his cabinet own real estate in London, Spain etc? When Russian mafia was busted in Spain, how come no one from the gov went to jail even though connection was pointing all the way to the top? The judicial system is rotten. Judges are simply executing orders from the top!

Its sad what's happening there and I don't see a good ending any time soon unfortunately. I could stay and fight...but what for? Ruin my life? Jail time for speaking up? No thank you.

Russian here too.

I used to hold similar position on evil west vs. free and for people Russia.... Before I immigrated to the West. I got access to a whole lot more information, I got to live outside of that mentality for a long period of time now.

I saw the 90's first hand. My family struggled through it. I was in one of the top schools (a la Russian MIT), making 20$/month.. Barely enough to cover metro cost and not enough for food 3x per day.

At the same time as my family was struggling, the president and his oligofriends were stealing and robbing the country. As poor as I was, being at one of the top school allowed me to have friends ... Who had friends - kids of the elite. You see, they tend to send their family abroad, kids go to private British schools. They often have dual citizenships, own real estate and investments in the "evil west".

It's a two faced reality, with one face they are critics, with another - they pose for foreign citizenship application.

To your comment on the power grab by the "west" and the international elites - yes, it is real IMO. But be careful - watch who is using who to gain that control. The government over there and the judicial systems are not to be trusted.

The information grab here is obvious - why give up info on Russian citizens for free to linked in , Google etc.? Of course Russian GRU/FSB etc want to have their hands in it too.