Yuri Andropov

The USA and European Union have announced new economic sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict (CLICK). I don't believe they know what they're dealing with in Putin's tightly controlled remnant of the Soviet Union. Take this image from a Moscow museum showing an exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Yuri Andropov, former head of the KGB and Russian President. He smashed the Prague Spring and treated dissidents like enemies, cracking down hard on them. During his watch, Soviet fighters shot down a civilian jet liner, Korean Air Flight KAL-007, which carried 269 passengers and crew; he agreed the black box should be hidden (CLICK). In any decent country, this monster would be reviled. In Putin's Russia he is a hero.