Invitation to the Cold War

Vladimir Putin's accusations of corruption as an open letter from Western elites to Russian elites

Released on January 25 as part of the Panorama program on the BBC, the film "Putin's Secret Wealth" rather disappointed the Russian public. Many, and not only in the guard camp, noted that the allegations of corruption against Vladimir Putin made in the film were unsubstantiated. "Secret wealth" was compared even with the anti-opposition crafts of the NTV channel. They probably expected to see account numbers and hidden camera footage from the secret cellars of the Lubyanka, where a stingy knight of Russian politics with a trembling hand strokes the gold bars stolen from pensioners.

But sometimes—and almost always in politics—the very fact of the utterance and the personality of the speaker is more important than the words spoken. In the BBC film, US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Adam Zhubin was one of the commentators. “I think he has been corrupt for years,” Zhubin said of Putin. And despite this “I think”, as if intended to emphasize that a private opinion is being voiced on the air, the Kremlin understood the message correctly.

“This is an official accusation,” Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, responded. It "requires evidence." And then - "we will not require proof." Because - what if they provide it? It's even funny in its own way. “You know, the hat is on us,” the country's chief press secretary could just as well have declared, had he had a penchant not for the products of the Swiss watch industry, but for the study of folklore.

Putin was accused of corruption more than once or twice, including in the Western press. They even named the specific size of the state. But accusations of the performance of journalists or political scientists, whether domestic or foreign, can always be brushed aside. Yes, and at the same time demonstrate the wit of St. Petersburg gateways. As in 2008, when the President of the Russian Federation, when asked about his secret wealth, answered simply: “Nonsense. Everyone was dug out of the nose and smeared on their pieces of paper.

But today, the exchange of pleasantries is reaching a new level. First, the background: the announcement of the results of the Alexander Litvinenko investigation (according to which Litvinenko was "most likely" killed on the orders or with the consent of Nikolai Patrushev and Vladimir Putin); the famous Anti-Corruption Foundation film The Seagull is also on the BBC. Secondly, so that no one doubts the correctness of Peskov’s conclusions, the words of White House spokesman Josh Earnest during a briefing on January 28: what Zhubin said “best reflects the position of the US administration” on the issue of Putin’s corruption. And here there are no clear answers. Peskov was quick to turn to Russia's rich experience of "insulting feelings" and said that "accusations are automatically projected onto one hundred million people who live in Russia and fully support Putin." By the way, even if we consider that not all Russians, but only the notorious 86% are supporters of the president, all the same, 25 million residents of Peskov have lost somewhere.

You can always brush aside accusations of the performance of journalists or political scientists, whether domestic or foreign.

Prominent United Russia Sergey Neverov suggested that through a smear campaign, the losing influence of Barack Obama solves problems with his own voters “at the expense of a man who raised Russia from its knees, thanks to whom pensions and benefits began to be paid on time, thanks to which Russian society was consolidated, Crimea was reunited with Russia, and the national interests of the country are put at the forefront, ”although he did not explain what the American voters care about this outstanding person. And retired railroad worker Vladimir Yakunin compared the wave of accusations against Putin to "an inscription on a fence." “She will stay there forever if she is not removed,” laments Yakunin, presumably recalling the views from the windows of long-distance trains. The head of the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, did not comment on the accusations against the president, but in a recent interview with MK he once again reminded that the United States was ready to play the role of a catalyst in the process of Russia's collapse.

Putin's elite, as we see, is fussing, and not without reason. It is the Russian elite, at least to a greater extent than the British TV viewers, who are the addressee of the messages that have been voiced during the week. With someone who was directly called a thief, they don’t sit at the table. And the speech with the masters of Russia is being conducted almost in plain text: Putin is, first of all, your problem, especially in the light of the upcoming presidential elections. Either solve your problem, or welcome to the new cold war.

“Across the ocean, preparations have begun for our elections,” Dmitry Peskov guessed. And yes, it has begun.

Photo: youtube.com