Putin’s Speeches Now Resemble Those of CPSU General Secretaries, Pastukhov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 7 – There are many ways in which Russia increasingly resembles the Soviet past, but one of the most intriguing is the fact that Vladimir Putin’s speeches increasingly resemble stylistically and in terms of reaction those of CPSU general secretaries to plenums of the central committee.

            They are of little or no interest to anyone “except those who write them,” the London-based Russian analyst says; and no one listens to them “except those who have to do so because of their positions.” As a result, these public actions are of less moment than many think (t.me/v_pastukhov/1238 reposted at kasparov.ru/material.php?id=66DE94FA9C2B3).

            But even more important, “the vacuum of thought” that such speeches then and now display is unintentionally highlighted by “unnecessary details” that are intended to fill the time and distract attention from genuinely important and much larger issues while suggesting the man in power is really in charge.

            Putin’s latest speech in Vladivostok exemplifies this return to the past, Pastukhov continues. He said nothing about the war and maintained that “everything is calm, that we live as we did, and that we have grandiose plans,” although the specifics of even those were largely absent concealed behind a wave of meaningless newspeak.

            And as was so often the case in Soviet times, the leader’s speeches once again must be analyzed not so much by a consideration of what they contain but what they don’t and how the absence of comment about Ukraine, China or even Belarus is where the real story lies just as was true in Brezhnev’s time.