Andrei Illarionov, a former top economic adviser to Vladimir Putin, recently penned a column in Yezhednevniy Zhurnal entitled “The Beginnings of a Catastrophe.” Below, a translation provided by La Russophobe:

The Beginnings of a Catastrophe Andrei Illarionov Yezhednevniy Zhurnal November 30, 2007 A year and a half ago, it was a question of premonitions of a catastrophe. One and a half months ago – prologue to a catastrophe. And now – its beginning. A year and a half ago, applying the word “catastrophe” to the near future of Russia might still have been called an exaggeration. But current events have proven, unfortunately, that this is the right word for it.