Kremlin Less Interested in Promoting Any One Candidate in Elections Abroad than in Undermining Democracy as Such, Yakhno Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Nov. 3 – The Kremlin is far less interested in promoting any particular candidate in elections abroad than it is in undermining public trust in democracy, a system of governance which Putin and his team view as a threat to their power both internationally and at home, according to Olesya Yakhno.
    According to the Ukrainian political scientist, the Kremlin recognizes that democracies help create the kind of solidarity between governments and peoples that dictatorships like Putin cannot hope to achieve and thus can stand up to regimes like his (uatv.ua/rossiya-delaet-stavku-ne-na-konkretnogo-kandidata-na-vyborah-v-ssha-a-na-podryv-doveriya-k-demokratii-yahno/).
    And at the same time, Putin and his team see the discrediting of democracy as essential to maintaining their rule in Russia itself. If Moscow can present democratic systems as ineffective and conflicted, far fewer Russians will be interested in that form of governance for themselves and instead will not oppose what Putin is doing.
    Yakhno’s comments are a useful counterpoint to the efforts of many in the United States and elsewhere to identify which candidate there the Kremlin supports. It is likely that the Putin regime really does have a preference, but promoting that preference is less important in its mind than undermining democracy as such.