Paul Goble
Staunton, Aug. 16 – Vladimir Putin has never been able to offer a compelling vision of the future that “Russians might consider worth setting aside the present to achieve, Abbas Gallyamov says; and as a result, he has been unable to mobilize Russians to fight for what they do not now have.
That means, the former Putin speechwriter and current Kremlin critic says, that as a result, “the real symbol of what is now taking place are the crowds of Muscovites walking on the streets and not the columns of Z activists” and that “in Kursk, people aren’t running to enlistment offices but asking Putin for help” (pointmedia.io/story/66bf1b7adc48800406e0f4a2).
Most of the patriotism now on view is “a simulacrum” rather than the real thing, Gallyamov continues, “a show organized by professional actors” rather than a movement of fanatics inspired by the desire to achieve more than they now have in the name of something bigger than themselves.
Almost the only Russian Putin has managed to turn into a fanatic is himself, a reality highlighted by his decision not to send troops from elsewhere on the Ukrainian front to defend Russian lands. In short, Gallyamov says, “Putin could not turn his people into fanatics” by offering them a vision of what they don’t have “but he turned into one himself.”
As it is becoming ever more clear, “the Russian president has stopped appreciating what he has and has instead completely given up for life for striving to get something he doesn’t. At present, he prefers this ‘pie in the sky’ to ‘a bird in the hand,” exactly the opposite position that the Russian people are in.
As a result, Gallaymov concludes, Russians “should not expect any actions from him that meet their interests and wishes” because the Kremlin leader is living in his own fantasy world in which the Donbass is more important than Kursk,” precisely because the former is part of Ukraine while the latter is part of Russia.
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