In the Yeltsin years during the transition to capitalism, corrupt foreign and domestic [[oligarch]]s took control of the country. Putin's rise to power as a [[populist]] was by taxing and driving out corrupt foreign oligarchs whom the public viewed as looting the country, and throwing in jail corrupt domestic oligarchs as tax cheats.{{fact}} The oligarchs were his political enemies. Putin's success as a leader in Russia came about by reigning in the power of oligarchs.{{fact}} He allowed them to run the Russian economy provided that they stay out of politics, unlike Western so-called "democracies".{{fact}} Contrary to [[Western]] and [[CIA]] propaganda, Putin is not a friend of or controlled by oligarchs; rather, the oligarchs bow to his instructions and demands.{{fact}} | In the Yeltsin years during the transition to capitalism, corrupt foreign and domestic [[oligarch]]s took control of the country. Putin's rise to power as a [[populist]] was by taxing and driving out corrupt foreign oligarchs whom the public viewed as looting the country, and throwing in jail corrupt domestic oligarchs as tax cheats.{{fact}} The oligarchs were his political enemies. Putin's success as a leader in Russia came about by reigning in the power of oligarchs.{{fact}} He allowed them to run the Russian economy provided that they stay out of politics, unlike Western so-called "democracies".{{fact}} Contrary to [[Western]] and [[CIA]] propaganda, Putin is not a friend of or controlled by oligarchs; rather, the oligarchs bow to his instructions and demands.{{fact}} |