Suing the Kremlin(① 书名《Suing the Kreml...). By Martin Sixsmith. Swift Press; 304 pages; £25
《起诉克里姆林宫》。作者：马丁·西克史密斯。Swift Press；304页；25英镑。
WITH All Russia’s warmongering(好战，战争煽动), repression and corruption, it is easy to forget how the West was once so enamoured of(迷恋，倾心于) Vladimir Putin. In 2001 George W. Bush declared the then-newish Russian president “trustworthy(值得信赖的)”, having looked into his eyes and got a “sense of his soul”. The first signs that Mr Putin was nothing of the sort came long before the annexation(吞并，兼并) of Crimea in 2014 and subsequent full-scale invasion(全面入侵) of Ukraine. An early indication of his consolidation of power(权力巩固) and authoritarian turn(威权转向) was the seizure(没收，夺取) and dismemberment(肢解，分割) of Yukos, an oil company.
尽管俄罗斯的好战、镇压和腐败盛行，人们很容易忘记西方曾一度对弗拉基米尔·普京如此着迷。2001年，乔治·W·布什在注视普京的眼睛并“感受到他的灵魂”后，宣称这位当时尚新的俄罗斯总统“值得信赖”。普京并非此等人士的最初迹象，早在2014年吞并克里米亚以及随后的全面入侵乌克兰之前就已显现。他巩固权力并向威权主义转变的一个早期迹象，就是对石油公司尤科斯的没收与肢解。
The Kremlin’s move against the firm and imprisonment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, its boss, highlighted the power struggle between Mr Putin and his siloviki(权力部门官员（前特工和军人）) cronies(亲信，密友)—former spooks and military men—and the oligarchs who had hoovered up(大量收购，席卷) much of the economy in the “voucher” privatisations of the early 1990s. In 2003, after Mr Khodorkovsky—then Russia’s richest man—began funding opposition parties and hinted at a run for the presidency(竞选总统), Yukos was hit with a series of tax-related charges. Mr Khodorkovsky was thrown into a labour camp(被投入劳改营). The company was broken up(被拆分) and the bits sold to siloviki-linked firms at knock-down prices(跳楼价，极低价格).
克里姆林宫对该公司的打压以及对其老板米哈伊尔·霍多尔科夫斯基的监禁，凸显了普京与其塞洛维奇（前间谍和军人）亲信们，以及在1990年代初的“凭证”私有化中席卷了大部分经济的寡头们之间的权力斗争。2003年，在霍多尔科夫斯基——当时俄罗斯首富——开始资助反对党并暗示竞选总统后，尤科斯遭到一系列税务相关指控。霍多尔科夫斯基被投入劳改营。公司被拆分，碎片以跳楼价卖给了与塞洛维奇有关联的企业。