ABSTRACT
Many features of the federal structure within the Russian Federation originate in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Following the disintegration of the USSR in 1991, the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, held a significant public profile, and was personally linked to rapid political and economic transformations that enveloped Russia during the 1990s. In place of such political veterans, ambitious oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovskii gained in economic and political influence. Khodorkovskii had attempted to build a personal political power base outside the federal Government through contributions to political parties, his work with non-governmental organizations, and significant control over the energy industry, notably through his company, Yukos. Particularly with the onset of the Russian-supported separatist insurgency in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine that followed the annexation of Crimea, the federal centre expanded its definition of what constituted a ‘security matter’ and was thus not subject to standard political procedures.
