There has been another version of Russian President Vladimir Putin that this week has appeared in public in a number of different contexts, says Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst who has studied Putin for years.
Opposite major newspapers The New York Times she says the following:
– After some very shocking steps, he needs feedback. He has started to act actively in public, he has started to open up and has been more expressive. It is as if he has gone out into the light to see what it is he has actually done, says Stanovaya.
The statement comes after a week in which the Russian president has appeared in public up to several times.
Not only has he left Russia for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine began in late February – he has also, for the first time in two and a half years, spent the night in another country – namely in Tajikistan.
He has also met top executives from several other countries for the first time in a long time.
At the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president appeared far less public, and there were a number of rumors about him. Among other things, it was speculated whether Putin and other Russian leaders were present in a nuclear bunker near the Russian city of Ufa.
Strange behavior at several public sessions has also sparked speculation about whether the president is seriously ill.
The New York Times writes that Putin’s behavior over the past week may indicate that he believes he has stabilized his war effort and economic and political system, following Russia’s military failures and a landslide of Western sanctions.
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