Well, anything bad that happened in Yeltsin's era was often swept under the rug while newspapers in the west wrote about democracy in Russia. The corruption you talk about actually blossomed during Yeltsin's time. Putin brought it under control to a degree.

The deal is that west likes Putin a lot less than it liked Yeltsin, so more is written about corruption and oligarchs in Russia. Some with journalists. More journalists were killed during Yeltsin's time than Putin's. Russia still has a long way to go, but Putin is a step forward...