• Greenleaf [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      Leftist parties (socialist and socdem) were doing so well in the Duma after the collapse of the USSR and the Russians got a taste of capitalism that Yeltsin - with the backing of the US - in a metaphorical but also very literal sense - attacked the legislative branch and consolidated all functional power in the executive. Again, with US backing. Putin is just using the levers of power than Yeltsin and Clinton handed to him.

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Word. The USSR didn’t collapse. It went down fighting and the capitalists had to stage a series of coups to finish it off, only to lose it to a slightly more capable capitalist.