It’s striking to consider that since Vladimir Putin first assumed power, the United States has seen five different presidents and Britain has had seven prime ministers.
With almost 25 years at the helm in Russia, Mr. Putin has undoubtedly left an indelible impact. Historically, terms like “Brezhnevism,” “Gorbachevism,” or “Yeltsinism” were seldom used.
“On the issue of nuclear weapons, there’s an awful lot that we can do,” believes Fiona Hill. “Some countries, like China, India, Japan, have been extraordinarily nervous when Putin has engaged in nuclear sabre-rattling in Ukraine and have pushed back against that. We can enforce restraint on Russia by creating an international framework for pushing back on this wild and speculative talk about using nuclear weapons.
“Perhaps that is something of a model for how we can deal with Vladimir Putin, who in many respects is something of a rogue leader. We need to create a more constraining environment, less permissive for the kinds of actions that he wants to undertake.”
Officially, Vladimir Putin secured over 87% of the votes in the March presidential election, though he faced no significant competition in a contest that was broadly perceived as neither free nor fair.
So, what do Russians think of their longest-serving Kremlin leader since Joseph Stalin?
To explore this, I traveled to the town of Kashira, located 70 miles from Moscow. There, an enormous portrait of Putin, painted as a vast mural, covers an entire side of an apartment block.
In Kashira, Big Vladimir is watching you.
“I like him,” says pensioner Valentina who is selling flowers by the roadside.
“Putin has good ideas and does a lot for people. True, our pensions aren’t big. But he can’t fix everything in one go.”
“He’s had nearly 25 years,” I point out.
“But we don’t know who’d come next [if Putin goes],” Valentina replies.
“In Russia we’re all expected to think the same way,” says Victoria, who is walking past the Putin mural.
“If I say anything against Putin my husband says: ‘You criticise Putin again and I’ll divorce you!’ He’s mad about him. He says that if it wasn’t for Putin life here would be as tough as in the 1990s.”
When I ask another passer-by, Alexander, what he thinks of the president, he replies: “It can be dangerous now to express an opinion. No comment.”
Most of the people I talk to say that they walk past Putin’s portrait without even noticing it now. They’re used to it.
Just like they’ve grown used to one man running Russia and no imminent prospect of change in the Kremlin.