Many of you have likely already had the opportunity to read Yulia Latynina’s powerful article from Sunday’s Washington Post, but I am going to repost below to make sure it is always in this blog’s archives. Back when I was regularly living and working in Moscow during the heights of the first Khodorkovsky trial, I had the honor of meeting with Latynina and sharing some very serious conversations. I know this woman to be a irrepressibly brave and reliable source, and while the tales she shares here may sound shocking if not outright surreal, this is the truth and reality of what is happening to many as the country free-falls into lawlessness and the impunity of privilege. The non-functioning status of law, police, and the courts in Russia is such that it breaks the mold of what many governments would be willing to accept, reminding us once again of the dangers of presuming regularity. Latynina, with this article, is politely asking that we wake up.