MOSCOW -- There is no television broadcast in Russia anymore that is independent of the Russian government. Having applied the poisonous gas of legal niceties, the Kremlin has shut down the last stronghold of dissent, the vocal and opinionated TV-6. It was the coup de grace in Russian President Vladimir Putin's yearlong struggle against the alternative station. Now the Kremlin's interpretation of international and domestic events will go unchallenged.

Of course, TV-6 was far from an innocent winged cherub. Owned by a shady tycoon and political manipulator, Boris Berezovsky, TV-6 voiced Berezovsky's opinions and promoted his business interests. For years, Berezovsky's reputation has been one of a ruthless, power-greedy gambler, who uses corrupt methods and schemes politically to achieve his ambitious goals.

Throughout the last months of Boris Yeltsin's presidency, Berezovsky presided over the Kremlin's inner circle, which actually ran the country and bypassed the ailing president, who was incapacitated by alcohol. In the days of pluralism and freedom of expression common during the Yeltsin era, Berezovsky was one of the most hated public figures in Russia. Now, having fled to London, he poses as a purged benefactor, a kind of exiled Santa Claus. But if Berezovsky belongs in a fairy tale, it is something Gothic.

A few days ago, he announced that he had proof of the criminal activities of Russian security agencies in 1999. According to Berezovsky, the explosions that destroyed three apartment buildings in Moscow should be attributed not to the Islamic Chechen militants but rather to the Russian secret police, which sought to raise a tide of nationalist support for Putin. The story is not new; it first surfaced right after the explosions. Not many people believed it then, and not many more are likely to buy it after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The 1999 explosions did not leave a smoking gun and will always remain a mystery, no matter what kind of documents Berezovsky has in his little briefcase. Also, it is known that, during the years of Russia's punitive campaign in Chechnya, Berezovsky pursued his own diplomacy and that his clandestine meetings with the Chechen leaders smelled not of humanism but of oil. Chechnya's central position in the Caucasus makes it crucial to the export of oil and gas from the Caspian Sea area.

In other words, Berezovsky is no Mahatma Gandhi. Consequently, the fine journalists of TV-6, whom he guided, hardly qualify as common victims. Skilled professionals, they knew they were selling their talents and services to an unscrupulous boss -- and now they must face the music. Still, there is a clear victim in this case: the Russian general public.

In the modern world, free speech is extremely expensive to maintain. Nowadays, a sermon at the corner of a busy street means about as much as a toddler's babble. It was enough for Martin Luther to nail a poster on the doors of his church and then address his congregation to launch the Protestant Reformation. In 2002, a Luther needs multimillion-dollar donations and preferably a mass-media empire. According to recent accounts, American movie companies spend as much as $10 million each to secure an Academy Award for one of their products. A political cause costs more.

No matter how terrible or how wonderful Berezovsky was, as long as he was able to run his own TV channel, a political monopoly was not possible in Russia. For better or worse, the TV-6 journalists criticized the Kremlin, occasionally to the extent that Putin became defensive, even apologetic -- as when he was initially perceived to be indifferent to the plight of the Kursk nuclear submarine.

No major newspaper or TV channel in any country is owned by starry-eyed idealists who keep a copy of Dr. Martin Luther King's biography on the nightstand. Mass-media ownership implies selfishness, cynicism and, occasionally, immorality. However, when the media outlets of two or more cynical and immoral power brokers clash, truth and public awareness often result. Truth is frequently born of half-truths, as people naturally make up their minds by comparing contradicting stories and interpretations. This is probably what freedom of speech is -- the constant flow of biased conflicting images, none of which is all true.

The Russian general public has now been robbed of this. Alternative views and concepts are still disseminated by various publications hostile or condescending toward Putin, but one simply cannot compare the impact of a TV talk show with that of a newspaper editorial. We have become extremely visual. Just as our kids are obsessed with computer games, we are taken in by TV anchors and live broadcasts.

The aftermath of the TV-6 collapse in Moscow is disheartening. The Russian government has indicated that it plans to use TV-6's resources to create a national sports channel. True, some sports fans will cheer, but a sports channel may still be a luxury for a nation in which the vast majority of people cannot afford cable and, therefore, subscribe to a meager four of five channels.

As for Berezovsky, we are going to hear a lot about him and from him in the near future. One cannot help admiring his restlessness. He is definitely not one of those guys who buys a tropical island and retires after being kicked out of his homeland for embezzlement.

He will not shut up; he will keep inviting trouble. I am sure that even the state-controlled TV will keep him in the limelight. An angry political loser is just as much fun as a good soccer game.