An ageing dictator: is Putin on the way out?
“Russia’s strongman is ageing,” said Stefan Scholl in Frankfurter Rundschau. Vladimir Putin now spends nearly all his time in his villa outside Moscow, where he is protected from Covid-19 by a hi-tech disinfection tunnel through which all visitors must pass. The president seldom appears in the Kremlin; he no longer plays ice hockey with his cronies. Rumours are circulating that “the 68-year-old is seriously ill and will announce his resignation in January”. He has been reported to be suffering from Parkinson’s and cancer, and it said to be taking drugs with serious side effects.
The Kremlin denies all this, claiming Putin is in “excellent health”. But these are not the only rumours circulating about the president, said Meduza (Riga). The investigative website Proekt has just published a report about Putin’s web of power and influence. It suggests that the millionairess Svetlana Krivonogikh had a long affair with him, starting in the 1990s when she was a cleaner and he was the head of the FSB, the spy agency. Today, the Krivonogikh family is worth 7.7bn roubles (about £76m) including large share holdings in Rossiya Bank, which has close ties to Putin’s inner circle. Proekt also claims that Krivonogikh’s 17-year-old daughter, Yelizaveta, “bears an uncanny resemblance” to the president. It’s all too plausible, said Anton Orech on Echo of Moscow. Putin looks after his own: all his people end up with “a good position, a profitable business and a wonderful career”. Shockingly, though, such revelations make no real difference at all. “Ordinary Russians don’t care. They feel envy rather than outrage.” The only danger is to the journalists and investigators involved.
But there are clear signs that Putin’s power may be on the wane, said Anne Dastakian in Marianne (Paris). Russia seems unusually “weak and indecisive” abroad. Belarus has been convulsed by months of protests; in Moldova, a pro-Western president has been elected. In the past, the Kremlin has often intervened to stop former Soviet Republics drifting out of its orbit; this year, it seems “passive”. In the meantime, the passing of a law granting immunity from prosecution to former presidents and their families has revived speculation that Putin is thinking of retirement, said Henry Foy in the Financial Times. This may be wishful thinking: earlier this year, another law was passed allowing him to rule for a further 12 years after his term expires in 2024. An ageing dictator has two choices: “guaranteed safe passage to civilian life with legal protection, or life-long rule”. Putin is keeping his options open.