Part 4/14:
This strategy succeeded in creating a veneer of stability, but it was built on fear and control. The early 2000s saw high-profile crackdowns: Mikhail Korokovski, who led Yukos, Russia’s wealthiest oil company, dared to fund opposition and hint at political ambitions. His arrest in 2003—on charges widely viewed as fabricated—culminated in the company's dismantling and his subsequent imprisonment for a decade. Similarly, Boris Berovski, once a kingmaker who helped Putin ascend, was forced into exile after criticizing the government; his media empire was seized, and he spent his final days in London, dead under suspicious circumstances.