Putin Hands Out Pardons — and Money

With the Sochi Olympics, and the international spotlight that comes with it, only two months away, President Vladimir Putin will pardon the band Pussy Riot as well as Russia’s former richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The moves come in the wake of a change in the nation’s amnesty law, all part of an effort to improve the nation’s image ahead of the Winter Games. The pardons happen the same week that Putin voiced his opinion on the US surveillance controversy sparked by his country’s guest, NSA leaker Edward Snowden; the Russian President said that the NSA surveillance is necessary to fight terrorism. On another front, Putin was less supportive of the West; with protesters in Ukraine demanding the nation turn toward Europe for its economic future, Moscow inked a deal to offer economic stimulus to the country, keeping it firmly in its sphere of influence.