Paul R. Gregory presents a litany of legal problems and challenges that Moscow faces, as litigants from different countries are taking Russia to court. It has seen a "long stream of little-remarked-upon legal defeats", which gregory thinks, "could have a dramatic impact on Putin’s fortunes", but it will be difficult to put Vladimir Putin "in the dock" for all these felonies and misdeeds.

As president he enjoys immunity in Russia. Besides he has been able to "bring his country’s legal system under his control". So it is Russia, that "remains vulnerable to international rulings", because it is "too enmeshed in the international legal and financial system to cut ties and become a rogue state". But Putin is personally not affected. He is not on the list of travel bans against Russian officials, nor Sergei Lavrov, because the West wants them to be free to travel to talks and summits.

It comes as no surprise that the European Cout of Human Rights in Strasbourg had "delivered 129 judgments against Russia" in 2014. It ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 1998, but had done little inside the country to improve its judiciary. Russia has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1996, and in January it had been "deprived of voting rights" for the annexation of Crimea.

Last year Russia was ordered by the Permanent Court for Arbitration in the Hague to pay $ 50 bn in damages to former shareholders of Yukos, who lost their assets when the oil company was expropriated by the Kremlin. Although Russia appealed, this payout was still a big hit, as the country is on the brink of recession. In April the European Commission charged Russia's energy giant Gazprom with abusing its dominant market position in Central and Eastern European gas markets. If found guilty of breaking EU anti-trust rules, the competition authority has the power to impose fines of up to 10% of Gazprom's global turnover. Ukraine aims to sue Russia for its losses totalling $90 bn, as a result of the annexation of Crimea and the war in the Donbas region.

Yet it is the downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 that had damaged Russia's global standing, due to the number of international passengers on board. Alexander Litvinenko, a former spy, living in England died of a polonium poisoning in 2006. His death has further frayed the relationship between Britain and Russia. The murder of the Russian opposition political leader, former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov, was another reminder of politically motivated assassinations, that killed high profile activists and journalists. The European Parliament called for an "independent international investigation" of Nemtsov's case.

No doubt Putin must have been involved and may have "overplayed his hand". Knowing he could be held responsible for his actions, his strategy is to cling on to power to avoid prosecution.