Former Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told his bribery trial on August 16 that he had been framed by a close lieutenant of President Vladimir Putin into accepting a payment of $2 million.
The accusation against Igor Sechin, head of Russia’s biggest oil company, thrust into the open simmering tensions between rival Kremlin clans – a spectacle rarely seen in public in the 17 years since Putin first became president.
