By Masha Karp

First the good news:

1. After 14 years of Russian human rights activists trying to tell the world about the imperial and totalitarian nature of Putin’s regime, it has suddenly started dawning on the West what they are dealing with. The Western countries turned a blind eye to 250 000 people brutally killed by Putin in Chechnya, because they were worried about the “war on terror” and trusted the Russian assertions that the Chechens were terrorists. They allowed the annexation of Georgian territories, because the Georgians dared to protest. But with Ukrainians showing courage and restraint in the face of the blatant invasion of their country, they suddenly saw Putin as he is – an imperialist not even doubting his right to interfere in other countries’ politics and ready to sacrifice people’s lives just to insist on it. His pathetic press-conference only confirmed to many people the extent to which he is "out of touch with reality" . [Read more]