Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Dalibor Rohac: Cranks, trolls, and useful idiots
A woman sews with a sewing machine as she watches a TV broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual press conference, held in Moscow, in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek on Dec. 18.
Following the Feb. 27 murder of liberal Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, a number of Central European websites were quick to provide an explanation. "Whoever gains control of the Russian opposition will be on the receiving end of all the finances and subsidies given to the Russian opposition by the West," wrote an anonymous author on the Czech site Aeronet. Several other sites published translations of a text blaming the murder on a Western conspiracy aiming to discredit Vladimir Putin. The article was written by the Russian commentator and politician Nikolai Starikov, a vocal Putin supporter.