Yeltsin was in power during a period when people in Russia and outside thought that Russia can be a liberal free market democracy. Of course that was never goin

Yeltsin was in power during a period when people in Russia and outside thought that Russia can be a liberal free market democracy. Of course that was never going to happen, and will not happen in our lifetime or the next. Whatever advice he got was useless as it never could be applied to Russia and they did not even try. They just stole whatever they could. As Chernomyrdin said: We wanted to make it better but it ended up as usual. Putin also did what was good for Putin and reestablishment of the empire. Problem of course is that as great player as he is Russia is still in deep trouble. Reckoning when it come will be terrible.