Vladimir Putin has been ranked number 3 in the Forbes list of the most powerful people in the world, President Medvedev comes in 43rd, after Deputy Prime Minister, siloviki chieftain and Rosneft chairman Igor Sechin at number 42. (See the editor's choice for Russia's top seven.) Forbes has got a special feature on the politician the Russian press apparently call 'the scariest person on earth'. There is little solid information about the man. Like many of Putin's cronies, Sechin is a St. Petersburg native. In the 1990s he worked in city government. Before that, it's widely believed he was a spy; Moscow sources confirm that he was a member of the GRU, the KGB's foreign-intelligence arm. ...

The following is a translation of an article about the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky published in the French weekly magazine, Le Nouvel Observateur.

The Convict who Frightens the Kremlin From our special correspondent in Moscow

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of oil company Yukos, is serving eight years in prison in Siberia. He is again judged in a trial in which the arbitrary rivals absurdity. The Russian power in the hands of Putin, does not want to see out of prison the person who was formerly the richest man in the country...

It is in this tiny and outdated courtroom No. 7 on the second floor of the Khamovnitchesky District Court of

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Kafkaesque. The former Russian oil tycoon, who stood up to Putin, is back before his judges. Here is the story. [The following is a translation of an article published in the French publication Le Point.]

Le Point, October 15, 2009

Accused Khodorkovsky, Stand Up!

From our special envoy Marc Nexon

He stands up, opens his spiral notebook and pulls out 3 sheets of paper he has scribbled with his fine handwriting. He pats the microphone installed in his glass cage. "Can you hear me?" he asks, addressing the judge. Then he starts with a clear voice: "I know that in his eyes I embody absolute evil, but I would like to ask quietly a few questions to the witness of the prosecution..."

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TODAY: Iran uranium plan waiting to be concluded; Russia backs Serbia on Kosovo; Lavrov exit denied; Ingushetian cabinet out.  Ex-US Yukos unit to launch mammoth lawsuit; picketed journalist gets unlikely defender; UN says Russia should improve immigration policies; grave problem for MoscowThe Washington Post reports that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that an agreement between Tehran and six world powers to allow Russia to help enrich uranium for an Iranian reactor awaits finalizing.  ITAR-TASS says that the Foreign Ministry has denied rumors that Lavrov may resign.  The Foreign Minister has rebuffed questions about who truly runs Russia, Putin or Medvedev, at a press conference, where he answered, 'you should not pit the Kremlin against ...

Russia has done a good job cementing its title as one of the world's leading resource nationalists, having effectively expropriated and stolen the assets of dozens of companies, including Yukos, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and probably ExxonMobil next at Sakhalin.But when it happens in Africa to a Russian company owned by a Kremlin-friendly businessman, the government is up in arms in protest and threats.  I can sympathize with them given my international law practice area ... now that would be an interesting call to take.From Bloomberg:

"Guinean authorities have attempted to expropriate Rusal's property," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its Web site today, adding it hopes Guinea "realizes the possible consequences of such actions both for the overall climate of traditionally constructive Russian-Guinean relations and for the socio-economic situation in their own country."...

TODAY: Yushchenko hits back; Russia accuses Ukraine of participation in Georgia war.  Medvedev suggests media scaremongering regarding disaster.  Seeks the advice of Buddhists.  Putin visits Kadyrov; Estemirova commemorated. Two candidates for the title of Russia's Obama.Russia has reportedly claimed that Ukrainian troops and volunteers joined with Georgian soldiers in fighting against Russia during last year's five-day war.  Celebrating the 18th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from Soviet rule, embattled President Viktor Yushchenko deflected the criticisms from abroad, in particular 'foreign overlords'.  President Medvedev has been on a recruitment drive in the Buryatia region of Mongolia, where on a visit to a temple the President asked Buddhist monks to join the armed forces as spiritual advisers. ...

The following letter from the law professor Emmanuel Gaillard, representing the former shareholders of Yukos, was published in the Financial Times.

From Prof Emmanuel Gaillard.

Sir, Almost unnoticed, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, announced in July that Russia will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty. This is a significant setback for its European partners. Since its adoption in 1994, the ECT has established a unique balance and a level playing field in the energy sector for all 50 partners, including Russia.

This is a signal to the international community that Russia refuses to live by its international commitments and is not interested in protecting future energy investments.

It is no coincidence that this comes at a time when the former majority shareholders of Yukos oil company are awaiting an international tribunal decision regarding, precisely, whether and to what extent Russia is bound

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TODAY: Medvedev visits South Ossetia in move called 'provocation' by Saakashvili, flouting US comments about unity of Georgia?; British academics bemoan closure of history website; Bolshoi's musical director quitsMedvedev has made a surprise visit to South Ossetia to pledge support for its leadership, a move condemned by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who called the visit 'the most immoral and shameful precedent in centuries'.   Medvedev and South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity visited a Russian military base in Tskhinvali.  The Russian President promised citizens that rebuilding would take place and announced that 'there is a need to support and cooperate in the defense sphere'.  Commentators suggest a rebuke to Obama who asserted the independence of Georgia on ...

Today the defense team for Mikhail Khodorkovsky is running a letter, bearing the signature of Robert Amsterdam, in the global edition of the Financial Times.  The story has been covered by Dow Jones and some other news outlets.  Below is the full text of the letter.An open letter to the boards of directors, management, auditors, and shareholders of Rosneft, Gazprom, Eni, Enel, and other purchasers of Yukos assets.

RE: Russia's obligation to seize your assets?

Beginning in December 2004 with the sham tax auction of Yukos's main production subsidiary Yuganskneftegaz, management and lawyers and shareholder representatives for major oil companies as well as private investors have had to evaluate the risk of purchasing Yukos assets and, subsequently, the oil produced by one of the prior production subsidiaries. This dilemma continued during the illegitimate Yukos bankruptcy where the receiver

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His contemporary Hugo Chavez in Venezuela has been doing the authoritarian-political prisoner thing for more than a decade, but Vladimir Putin is not too far behind.  With any luck, these fellows could emulate the successful grip on power of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who has been on for some 22 years.  Today Garry Kasparov has a column in the Wall Street Journal taking a look at the past nine years of Putinist Russia, focusing both on the important examples of the Sochi elections and the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky as signs that true reform and progress has not yet arrived to Russia.  Many people who take the time to read blogs on Russia are tired of Kasparov's sometimes predicatable criticism ... however I think this one is well argued.

Mr. Nemtsov did appear on the ballot, a rare feat for

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