President's strategy

Vladimir Putin began his address to the Federal Assembly by quoting American President Franklin Roosevelt. I would like to remind you of the words of another outstanding politician of the 20th century, Winston Churchill: “No matter how great the strategy, you need to look at the results from time to time.” And I would like to address these words not to the Russian president, but to those who are trying to justify his actions, hoping in this way to influence the authorities and change the situation in Russia. These people, whose intentions are sometimes quite good, should have realized long ago that attempts to come to an agreement with the Kremlin only lead to an increase in its power and our lack of rights.

As for Putin’s own strategy, it can be judged from the presidential address. In a democratic country, the head of state at the end of his second term, in his key speeches, first of all sums up the results of his activities, and does not talk about what will happen in the country in the next 10 years. But Vladimir Putin, through the lines of a carefully prepared text of the message, instills in us something like this idea: “In the coming years, everything in this country - be it the strategy of childbirth or the strategy of army infanticide - will be determined by me, your permanent president.” Judging by comments in the media, even the loyal part of the “expert community” reacted to the message with restraint. It is significant that the presidential administration considered it necessary to organize an additional program interview in which Putin explains his own theses.

But the atmosphere of the hall in which the message was delivered is impressive. It is difficult to read the friendly odes of officials about the stunning impression Putin made on them without grinning. How does this differ from meetings of the CPSU Central Committee or Turkmenbashi reports? A briefly forgotten form of nomenklatura servility, when any sound made by the boss plunges officials into a state of either orgasm or insanity.

While the president was introducing the country to his fateful plans, events occurred that may not be so significant in the historical context, but were significant for determining the general political climate in the country. First of all, I mean the verdict to the National Bolsheviks. Three and a half years in prison for the poster “Putin, go away yourself” means that qualitative changes have already occurred in relations between the state and civil society. Against this background, the absolute lack of reaction from the human rights officialdom looks shameful. Such touches, behind each of which there is a broken human destiny, reveal the ugly essence of the current Russian government. Continuing to pretend that nothing is happening is civic irresponsibility. When such a position is taken by those whose status should correct the presumptuous power, then this must be qualified as complicity with the regime. Now Ms. Pamfilova and Mr. Lukin are busy with important issues - preparing for the so-called. "civil eight", which will be held in St. Petersburg on the eve of the summit. Presumably, the whole world will admire how well things are going in Russia with regard to the financing of civil society from state bins.

Only one thing separates today's Russia from the state of Belarus - world leaders still agree to accept our façade as democracy and consider Vladimir Putin their partner. Although, judging by Dick Cheney's latest statements, this situation may well change. In the context of a domestic political crisis associated with a sharp decline in Americans' trust in Bush and taking into account the upcoming elections in November, which threaten the Republicans with the loss of control of Congress, the American administration may recognize “friendly relations” with Putin as unacceptable political ballast.

But the fact of the matter is that the Putin regime is ready to take the road towards dictatorship in almost everything. The only thing that confuses them is this border point - they need friendship with the West as a guarantee of the safety of offshore billions. Therefore, the Kremlin attaches special importance to building Potemkin villages in St. Petersburg: it is extremely important for the regime to present the Russian president to the world as a popular democratic leader - with the tacit consent of the G7 countries. And if everything goes smoothly, after the summit the administration will decide on Putin’s further form of government, which he may personally voice during his closest communication with the people (or with journalists, or with officials).

This main dish, as this time, he will provide with a demagogic side dish: he will talk about the preservation of the people or the economic power of Russia, about military plans or the fight against corruption. Meanwhile, in Russia, young activists will be imprisoned just for trying to express a different point of view, “preventive detentions” of oppositionists will be carried out, and criminal cases will be initiated “for undermining the constitutional order.”