Putin’s Russia has Passed from an Era of Understandings to One of Complete Lawlessness and Chaos, Pastukhov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 30 – It is almost universally recognized that Putin, in his drive to build his own power, destroyed law as the basis of the Russian state in favor of understandings that he could periodically redefine to enhance his position, but now, Vladimir Pastukhov says, he has moved on, ending the era of understandings in favor of one of complete lawlessness and chaos.

            The London-based Russian analyst says that “the era of understandings has come to an end, but this is not the end.” Rather, it is a step to make “creative chaos the highest and final form of existence of Russian civilization” in the view of its Kremlin author (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2025/12/30/svod-poniatii-russkoi-imperii).

              According to Pastukhov, Russia has been “freeing itself from laws in the name of understanding only to then free itself from these concepts in the name of chaos,” which gives rise to “a state of lawlessness” in which “citizens live in fear but no one knows exactly what to be afraid of because anything can happen to anyone at any time.”

              Indeed, “if nothing has happened to someone yet in this state of lawlessness,” the analyst continues, “it is merely an historical accident that will soon be corrected.” There is no need for a constitution because any limitation at all is “incompatible with the essence of lawlessness.”

              This has many consequences, Pastukhov says. Among them, the following are especially noteworthy: There is no need for a written constitution, “the right of lawlessness is violence that has the force of law,” “the authorities do not control lawlessness: they participate in it,” and “Lawlessness is the opium of the deep people who believe they will survive even it.”