In the mind of an average Russian, it was inconceivable that an unassuming American guy who barely spoke Russian would aggressively be going after Russia’s most powerful oligarchs on his own. The only plausible explanation was that I must have been operating as a proxy for someone powerful. Considering how each of my battles with the oligarchs led to an intervention by Putin or his government, most people assumed that this someone was none other than Vladimir Putin himself. It was a ridiculous thought. I had never met Putin in my life. But because everyone thought I was “Putin’s guy,” no one
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