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.