Putin Won’t Visit Regions with Problems that have Been All Too Obviously Created by Him, Russian Regional Specialists Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 12 – Vladimir Putin’s visits to Chukotka and Khabarovsk Kray are the first of what are likely to be a number of flying visits to other regions. But all of these visits will reflect a desire by the Kremlin to avoid places where the problems people face are clearly of his making and instead identify those whose problems arose earlier but can be addressed by him.

            That is the judgment of three political specialists who are part of the stable of regional experts, The Club of the Regions (club-rf.ru/detail/7195). In contrast to his earlier visits, Putin’s now will focus on the larger electorate rather than on the fate of governors, none of whom faces an election now.

Consequently, Vitaly Ivanov, Alina Zhestovskaya and Pavel Salin suggest, the places Putin goes to during the campaign and the ones he doesn’t go to provide important insights on where he thinks he can avoid problems and on others which he and his aides are apparently convinced he cannot.