The Panama Papers and PutinAP Vladimir Putin's regime has increasingly subjected its opponents to systematic harassment and detention. While Putin is not personally named in the massive leak of financial documents known as the Panama Papers, close associates of the Russian president nevertheless feature prominently in them. This agreement and now the Panama Papers open up new political pressures on Putin's kleptocracy. The list of names identified by the Panama Papers includes Russian regional governors, members of the Russian parliament, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, and Putin's close friend and cellist, Sergey Roldugin. The Putin regime claims the US had engineered the Ukraine crisis in order to extend its global dominance through NATO enlargement.

Source: Stuff May 20, 2016 02:00 UTC