Paul
Goble
Staunton, March 22 – Initially, it
appeared that the coronavirus would help Vladimir Putin, Igor Yakovenko says,
because it allowed him to restrict protests without anyone really complaining
and to suggest that Russia under his leadership was doing much better than
other countries.
But more recently, in this
situation, the coronavirus has come out on top, displacing Putin from his
accustomed top position in the Russian news, even on state channels, and
highlighting the fact that there are some things far more powerful than the
Kremlin leader, the Russian commentator says (detaly.co.il/o-lyudyah-i-virusah/).
In the last week, he points out, the
Russian media made on average 114,000 references to the coronavirus every day,
compared to only 16,000 to Putin, and only 9,000 to the Russian Constitution
which the Kremlin leader has been pushing as the most important subject for the
country.
“Putin naturally can’t stand this,”
Yakovenko says; and to try to refocus attention back on himself, he has made
the absurd suggestion that more than 70 percent of Russians are middle class. One
can only imagine what he may say next.
But such remarks are likely to undermine and marginalize him further rather
than attract the attention he obviously craves.
Moreover, instead of offering
comfort to the population as for example Angela Merkel has done and telling them
that they are not alone but can count on him to do everything possible to
shorten the epidemic and keep the number of deaths low, Putin through his
mouthpieces in the media is saying the epidemic isn’t that serious and won’t
last long.
The Russian people and even the
Russian media can see that isn’t true, and Putin may be forced to change his
tune to reflect that reality, Yakovenko says.
But his obsessions, the vote on the constitutional amendments and the Victory
Day parade, look increasingly petty and misdirected to everyone else.
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