RUSSIAN REPRESSION

On October 26, masked, black-uniformed Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents stormed aboard oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's private plane during a pre-dawn Siberian refueling stop and arrested him. Today, Russia froze the controlling assets in oil conglomerate YUKOS owned by Khodorkovsky. These actions, along with the imprisonment or flight to avoid imprisonment of several other influential Russian businessmen, have raised fears and alarm that Russia is reverting to the oppressive police state that existed before the breakup of the Soviet Union more than a decade ago. Freezing Khodorkovsky's stake in YUKOS,

. . . sent financial markets skidding and sparked concerns that investors would pull money out of the country.

The move by state prosecutors stops Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man, and his allies from selling or transferring their controlling interest in the country's biggest oil company.

Natalya Vishnyakova, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, stated that the shares were not confiscated nor nationalized. President Putin has stated that these actions do not represent a campaign against business. However, market analysts and even Russian officials are worried.

"I do believe the methods are absolutely wrong -- the way they were arrested, put in jail and so on," a senior Russian diplomat told Reuters.

YUKOS has been the target since early July of legal action by the Russian justice authorities in what many see as a move by the Kremlin to curb the political ambitions of Khodorkovsky who is believed to have his long-term sights on the presidency.

Kremlin hard-liners have also been highly critical of Khodorkovsky's support of liberal opponents in upcoming elections.

Like a vise, the FSB over the past few months has been squeezing the Russian business community. The future is a question mark, but the trend is incremental repression of Putin's political opponents.

As an American, I'm dismayed that the major media is not giving this story more attention and emphasis. There is little or no mention of the burgeoning crisis in the Russian political arena. I'm sure the White House is closely watching.

Alexei Kokin at The Russian Dilettante is watching the story from Moscow.