...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...'s expected return to the Kremlin in the weekend poll.
Egypt just set the stage; expect more of these charges around the world.
The charges came as officials braced for mass protests that have been called for the day after Sunday's election in which the Russian strongman is expected to breeze his way past four weak rivals to a third presidential term.
Investigators began to probe alleged dirty tricks practiced by Putin's opponents while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov launched a lacerating critique in which he accused the United States of trying to push Russia around.
"The days when Russia could be lectured or preached to are over," Lavrov said in an interview with the online edition of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta government daily.
"Our American partners understand this perfectly well, but the inertia of past approaches and stereotypes in Washington is still evident," Lavrov said.