Putin's victory

By T.N. and A.O. | LONDON AND MOSCOW

ANY dwindling hope among the supporters of Mikhail Khodorkovsky that the full force of Vladimir Putin's fury would not be brought to bear on the imprisoned oil tycoon ended earlier today, when he and his co-defendant Platon Lebedev received the maximum 14-year prison sentence, as prosecutors had demanded, following their conviction earlier this week for stealing oil from their company, Yukos, and laundering the proceeds. Likewise, anyone still believing that the prospects for liberalisation in Russia remained alive will find it difficult to maintain their optimism today.

Today's sentence was delivered by a judge in a courtroom but decided by Mr Putin, Russia's prime minister. It is retrospectively applied back to 2003, when the two men were first arrested, meaning they face a further seven years in prison. This is a firm indication that Mr Putin will remain at the top of Russian politics until and beyond the next presidential election in 2012.