"Russia is an ancient country with historical, profound traditions and a very powerful moral foundation. And this foundation is a love for the Motherland and patriotism. Patriotism in the best sense of that word. Incidentally, I think that to a certain extent, to a significant extent, this is also attributable to the American people".[http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/12/19/1618_type82916_154779.shtml Interview with Time Magazine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306114451/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/12/19/1618_type82916_154779.shtml |date=6 March 2008 }}. 19 December 2007.From around 2014, the Putin regime embraced [[Great Russian chauvinism]] and began to actively promote it.{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=Jeffrey |title=The return of Great Russian chauvinism |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-return-of-great-russian-chauvinism/article17298477/ |work=The Globe and Mail |date=5 March 2014}}{{cite web |date=26 February 2022 |title=Putin's Anti-Bolshevik Fantasies Could Be His Downfall|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2022/02/putin-anti-bolshevik-tsarist-mythic-history-ukraine|author-last=Kessler|author-first=Mario|access-date=11 March 2022 |work=Jacobin}} In July 2021, Putin published an essay titled ''[[On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians]]'', in which he referred to Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians as "one people" making up a [[All-Russian nation|triune Russian nation]] and part of the "[[Russian world]]". He maintained that large parts of Ukraine are historical Russian lands and claimed there is "no historical basis" for the "idea of Ukrainian people as a nation separate from the Russians".Düben, B A. "[https://doi.org/10.31389/lseppr.86 Revising History and ‘Gathering the Russian Lands’: Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian Nationhood"]. ''[[London School of Economics|LSE]] Public Policy Review'', vol. 3, no. 1, 2023 Putin claimed that outside forces wanted to "divide and rule" the Russians.{{cite web |last = Putin |first = Vladimir |author-link = Vladimir Putin |date = 12 July 2021 |title = Article by Vladimir Putin 'On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians' |url = http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220125053520/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181 |archive-date = 25 January 2022 |website = The Kremlin |publisher = [[Government of Russia]]. }} Björn Alexander Düben, professor of international affairs, writes that Putin is "embracing a [[Russian neo-imperialism|neo-imperialist]] account that exalts Russia's centuries-long repressive rule over Ukraine, while simultaneously presenting Russia as a victim". In [[Address concerning the events in Ukraine|a speech on 21 February 2022]], following the deployment of Russian troops in the [[Donetsk People's Republic|Donetsk]] and [[Luhansk People's Republic]]s,{{cite web |date=21 February 2022 |title=Putin orders troops into eastern Ukraine on 'peacekeeping duties' |website=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/21/ukraine-putin-decide-recognition-breakaway-states-today |archive-date=23 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223175613/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/21/ukraine-putin-decide-recognition-breakaway-states-today |url-status=live}} Putin made a number of claims about Ukrainian and Soviet history, including stating that modern Ukraine was created by the [[Bolsheviks]] in 1917 as part of a communist [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|appeasement of nationalism]] of ethnic minorities in the former [[Russian Empire]], specifically blaming [[Vladimir Lenin]] for "detaching Ukraine from Russia".{{cite web|last=Gotev |first=Georgi |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/putins-world-selected-quotes-from-a-disturbing-speech/ |title=Putin's world: Selected quotes from a disturbing speech – |publisher=Euractiv.com |date= 22 February 2022}} Putin spoke of the "historic, strategic mistakes" that were made when in 1991 the USSR "granted sovereignty" to other [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet republics]] on "historically Russian land" and called the entire episode "truly fatal".{{cite news |last1=JOFFRE |first1=TZVI |title=Russian parliament questions Lithuania's independence with new bill |url=https://www.jpost.com/international/article-709046 |date=9 June 2022}} He described Ukraine as being turned into the "anti-Russia" by the West.{{cite magazine |title=What the West Will Never Understand About Putin's Ukraine Obsession |url=https://time.com/6140996/putin-ukraine-threats/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=22 January 2022}} On 24 February, Putin in a [[On conducting a special military operation|televised address]] announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine,{{cite news |title=Full text: Putin's declaration of war on Ukraine |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/full-text-putin-s-declaration-of-war-on-ukraine |publisher=The Spectator (1828) Ltd |date=24 February 2022}} launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.{{cite news|publisher=Deutsche Welle|title=Russia launches massive invasion of Ukraine — live updates|date=24 February 2022|url=https://www.dw.com/en/russia-launches-massive-invasion-of-ukraine-live-updates/a-60893588}} === Rehabilitation of the Russian Empire === [[File:Флагштоки возле парка 300-летия Санкт-Петербурга. 2024. 05.jpg|thumb|The [[Black-yellow-white flag of the Russian Empire|flag of the Russian Empire]] flying alongside the flag of the Russian Federation and flag of the Soviet Union in [[Saint Petersburg]]. President Putin led the flag-raising ceremony.{{Cite web |date=17 June 2023 |title=Flag raising ceremony |url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71450 |access-date=10 January 2024 |website=President of Russia |language=en}}]] Putin has been described as advocating [[Russian neo-imperialism]]. It is claimed that Putin models himself on the [[Tsar]] [[Peter the Great]], whose reign is reminiscent of a Russian imperial greatness which the Kremlin is keen to promote. Four months into the invasion of Ukraine, Putin compared himself to Tsar Peter, saying that just as Peter had [[Treaty of Nystad|returned "Russian land"]] to the empire, "it is now also our responsibility to return (Russian) land".{{cite web |last1=Dickinson |first1=Peter |title=Putin admits Ukraine invasion is an imperial war to "return" Russian land |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/putin-admits-ukraine-invasion-is-an-imperial-war-to-return-russian-land/ |publisher=[[Atlantic Council]] |date=10 June 2022}} A presidential commission asked Putin in 2003 to grant the request of one of [[Nicholas II]]'s last surviving relatives to rehabilitate the [[House of Romanov]].{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/20/russia.nickpatonwalsh|title=Presidential commission says it has evidence which will absolve Nicholas II of crimes and rehabilitate the last tsarist family|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=20 December 2002|access-date=24 September 2015}} Willing to regain the imperial grandeur of Russia, Putin invited the Romanov imperial family to return to Russia in July 2015.{{cite news|url=https://www.dn.pt/inicio/pessoas/interior.aspx?content_id=4690935|title=Rússia quer trazer de novo os Romanov e voltar a ser o país dos czares (Russia wants to bring back the Romanovs and wants to become again the country of the Tsars.)|newspaper=[[Diário de Notícias]]|date=21 July 2015|access-date=24 September 2015|language=pt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807143628/http://www.dn.pt/inicio/pessoas/interior.aspx?content_id=4690935|archive-date=7 August 2015|url-status=dead}} According to the presidential commission, this move would represent a significant final step in Russia's journey to embrace its [[Russian Empire|imperial]] history. In 2023, Putin said that Russian soldiers killed in the invasion of Ukraine "gave their lives to [[Novorossiya]] and for the unity of the [[Russian world]]".{{cite news |title='Internal betrayal': Transcript of Vladimir Putin's address |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/24/internal-betrayal-transcript-of-vladimir-putins-address |work=Al Jazeera |date=24 June 2023}} Novorossiya (New Russia) was a historical imperial territory in southern Ukraine. In 2025, he claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are "one people" and therefore, "the whole of Ukraine is ours".{{Cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Peter |date=23 June 2025 |title='All of Ukraine is ours': Putin's Russian imperialism is now on full display |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/all-of-ukraine-is-ours-putins-russian-imperialism-is-now-on-full-display/ |access-date=28 June 2025 |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last1=Faulconbridge |first1=Guy |last2=Soldatkin |first2=Vladimir |last3=Faulconbridge |first3=Guy |date=20 June 2025 |title=Putin says 'the whole of Ukraine is ours' - in theory |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-the-whole-ukraine-is-ours-theory-may-take-city-sumy-2025-06-20/ |access-date=28 June 2025 |work=Reuters |language=en}} An alliance has been forged between the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Church]] and the Kremlin since Putin became President of the Russian Federation. An adherent of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], Putin has allowed the regaining by the Orthodox Church of much of the importance that the Church had enjoyed in the Russian Empire and has won the enthusiastic support of its religious leaders.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1579638/Orthodox-Church-unholy-alliance-with-Putin.html|title=Orthodox Church unholy alliance with Putin|publisher=[[Telegraph Media Group|The Telegraph]]|date=23 February 2008|access-date=24 September 2015}} Russian journalist [[Andrei Viktorovich Malgin|Andrei Malgin]] compared Putin's desire to restore a "lost" empire and his [[Clerical fascism|support for the church]] and "traditional values" to the policies of [[Fascist Italy|Italian fascist]] leader [[Benito Mussolini]].{{cite news |title=Peas In a Pod: Putin's Russia and Mussolini's Italy |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/05/06/peas-in-a-pod-putins-russia-and-mussolinis-italy-a46354 |work=The Moscow Times |date=6 May 2015}} American historian [[Stanley G. Payne]] argued that Putin's political system is "more a revival of the creed of Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] in the 19th century that emphasized '[[Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality|Orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality]]' than one resembling the revolutionary, modernizing regimes of Hitler and Mussolini."{{cite news |title=Nasty, Repressive, Aggressive -- Yes. But Is Russia Fascist? Experts Say 'No.' |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-repressive-aggressive-not-fascist/31794918.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=9 April 2022}} === Rehabilitation of the Soviet Union === [[File:2018 Moscow Victory Day Parade 25.jpg|thumb|Putin at the [[2018 Moscow Victory Day Parade|Victory Day parade in Moscow]] on 9 May 2018 to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the Soviet victory over [[Nazi Germany]] in the [[Great Patriotic War (term)|Great Patriotic War]]]] [[File:Immortal Regiment in Moscow (2017-05-09) 04.jpg|thumb|Putin participating in the [[Immortal Regiment]] in 2017, with participants holding the images of their relatives who fought in the War. The Soviet [[Victory Banner]] is in the background.]] Some commentators have said that current Putin holds many [[Neo-Sovietism|neo-Soviet]] views, especially concerning social policies, law and order and military strategic defense.Slade, G [http://www.sras.org/news2.phtml?m=633 Deconstructing the Millennium Manifesto: The Yeltsin-Putin Transition and the Rebirth of Ideology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235109/http://www.sras.org/news2.phtml?m=633 |date=26 September 2007 }}. ''The School of Russian and Asian Studies''. 2005. Putin has portrayed the Soviet Union as carrying out Russia's "imperial destiny" under another name.{{cite journal |last1=Kolesnikov |first1=Andrei |title=The End of the Russian Idea |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russian-federation/vladimir-putin-end-russian-idea |journal=[[Foreign Affairs]] |date=August 2023|volume=102 |issue=5 }} The first politically controversial step made by Putin, then the FSB director, was restoring in June 1999 a memorial plaque to former Soviet leader and [[KGB]] director [[Yuri Andropov]] on the facade of the building, where the KGB had been headquartered.[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/8260-14.cfm Andropov's Legacy in Putin's Foreign Policy]. [[The Jamestown Foundation]]. 18 June 2004. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212120251/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/8260-14.cfm |date=12 February 2009 }} In late 2000, Putin submitted a bill to the State Duma to use the [[National Anthem of the Soviet Union|Soviet national anthem]] as the new [[National anthem of Russia|Russian national anthem]]. The Duma voted in favor. The music remained identical, but new lyrics were written by the same author who wrote the Soviet lyrics.{{cite news |title=Russian Deputies Restore Soviet National Anthem (Published 2000) |work=The New York Times |date=9 December 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327005404/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/09/world/russian-deputies-restore-soviet-national-anthem.html |archive-date=27 March 2023 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/09/world/russian-deputies-restore-soviet-national-anthem.html |last1=Tyler |first1=Patrick E. }} In September 2003, Putin was quoted as saying: "The Soviet Union is a very complicated page in the history of our peoples. It was heroic and constructive, and it was also tragic. But it is a page that has been turned. It's over, the boat has sailed. Now we need to think about the present and the future of our peoples".[http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2003/09/19/1204_type82914type82915_52505.shtml Answers to Questions at a Press Conference following the CIS Summit] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120803052552/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2003/09/19/1204_type82914type82915_52505.shtml |date=3 August 2012 }}. 19 September 2003. In February 2004, Putin said:
"It is my deep conviction that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a national tragedy on a massive scale. I think the ordinary citizens of the former Soviet Union and the citizens in the [[Post-Soviet states|post-Soviet space]], the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS countries]], have gained nothing from it. On the contrary, people have been faced with a host of problems. ... Incidentally, at that period, too, opinions varied, including among the leaders of the Union republics. For example, [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] was categorically opposed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and he said so openly proposing various formulas for preserving the state within the common borders. But, I repeat, all that is in the past. Today we should look at the situation in which we live. One cannot keep looking back and fretting about it: we should look forward".[http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/text/speeches/2004/02/12/0002_163321.shtml President Vladimir Putin's Answers to Questions During a Meeting with His Election Campaign Representatives] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120802234228/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/text/speeches/2004/02/12/0002_163321.shtml |date=2 August 2012 }}. 12 February 2004.In April 2005, during his formal address to Russia's [[Federal Assembly (Russia)|Parliament]], President Putin said:
"Above all, we should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. As for the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory. Moreover, the epidemic of disintegration infected Russia itself".{{cite web |url=http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2005/04/25/2031_type70029type82912_87086.shtml |title=Annual Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation |publisher=Kremlin.ru |access-date=24 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524042631/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2005/04/25/2031_type70029type82912_87086.shtml |archive-date=24 May 2009 }}[[File:Moscow rally 1 May 2012 19.JPG|thumb|[[Communist Party of the Russian Federation|Communist]] protesters with the sign: "The order of dismissal for Vladimir Putin for the betrayal of the strategic national interests", Moscow, 1 May 2012]] In August 2008, ''The Economist'' claimed:
"Russia today is ruled by the KGB elite, has a Soviet anthem, servile media, corrupt courts and a rubber-stamping parliament. A new history textbook proclaims that the Soviet Union, although not a democracy, was 'an example for millions of people around the world of the best and fairest society'".In November 2008, ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'' stated:
The Kremlin in the Putin era has often sought to maintain as much sway over the portrayal of history as over the governance of the country. In seeking to restore Russia's standing, Putin and other officials have stoked a nationalism that glorifies Soviet triumphs while playing down or even whitewashing the system's horrors. As a result, throughout Russia, many archives detailing killings, persecution and other such acts committed by the Soviet authorities have become increasingly off-limits. The role of the security services seems especially delicate, perhaps because Putin is a former KGB agent who headed the agency's successor, the FSB, in the late 1990s.{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/26/europe/26archives.php |title=Purging history of Stalin's terror |work=International Herald Tribune |date=27 November 2008 |access-date=2 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203055420/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/26/europe/26archives.php |archive-date=3 December 2008 }}[[File:GULag 2 Museum Moscow Russia.jpg|thumb|right|{{ill|Gulag History Museum|ru|Музей истории ГУЛАГа}}]] Putin has an amicable relationship with [[Gennady Zyuganov]], the leader of [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] (KPRF).[http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70505 Встреча с лидером КПРФ Геннадием Зюгановым (Meeting with the leader of KPRF Gennady Zyuganov]{{cite news|last=Clover |first=Charles |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3c6abd0c-5309-11e1-8aa1-00144feabdc0 |title=Kremlin has plan B for poll run-off |newspaper=Financial Times |publisher=Ft.com |date=9 February 2012 |access-date=24 March 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://kprf.ru/party_live/61739.html |title=Political Report of the CPRF Central Committee to the 13th Party Congress |publisher=Kprf.ru |date=5 December 2008 |access-date=24 March 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/rad-green/2001-November/001596.html |title=Russian Communist leader denounced Putin for US alliance |publisher=Lists.econ.utah.edu |date=9 November 2001 |access-date=24 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021124152/http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/rad-green/2001-November/001596.html |archive-date=21 October 2013 }} Roger Boyes considers Putin more of a latter-day [[Leonid Brezhnev]] than a clone of Stalin.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/putin-is-no-stalin-hes-a-latter-day-brezhnev-jgjftxjr8td |title=Roger Boyes considers Putin more of a latter-day Brezhnev than a clone of Stalin |work=[[The Times]] |date=6 December 2012 |access-date=24 March 2014}} In August 2014, he rejected [[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]]'s proposal to return the Imperial flag and [[God Save the Tsar!|anthem]].{{cite news|title=Rosja powinna być monarchią, a Putin imperatorem|url=http://www.wprost.pl/ar/464562/Rosja-powinna-byc-monarchia-a-Putin-imperatorem/|access-date=24 August 2014|agency=wprost}} On 30 October 2017, Putin opened the [[Wall of Grief]], the first Russian memorial dedicated to the victims [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|Stalinist repressions]]. It was seen as a gesture towards the Russian [[intelligentsia]].{{cite news|title=Wall of Grief: Putin opens first Soviet victims memorial |publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41809659|date=30 October 2017}} In November 2024, Moscow's {{ill|Gulag History Museum|ru|Музей истории ГУЛАГа}} was ordered to close for "fire safety" violations after its director, Roman Romanov, refused to censor an exhibition on [[Stalinism#Purges and executions|Stalinist repressions]] that covered events such as the [[Shakhty Trial]] of 1928 and the [[Great Terror]] of the 1930s.{{cite news |title='The end of a life cycle' How the Russian authorities are 'quietly dissolving' the Gulag History Museum after its director refused to censor an exhibition on Soviet-era repressions |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/01/15/the-end-of-a-life-cycle |work=[[Meduza (website)|Meduza]] |date=15 January 2025}} In 2026 it was transformed into the Museum of Remembrance of the Victims of [[Genocide of the Soviet People]].[https://www.rbc.ru/society/20/02/2026/699824569a79471a0a816d88?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fru.wikipedia.org%2F Музей истории ГУЛАГа станет Музеем памяти геноцида советского народа] === Neo-Stalinism === [[File:Moscow rally 24 December 2011, Sakharov Avenue -13.JPG|thumb|Moscow rally in Sakharov Avenue, the top text says "You are on the right way, comrades!"''Note'': The phrase "Верной дорогой дорогой идете, товарищи! " is the title of a propaganda slogan of Lenin showing "the right way", widespread in the Soviet Union. (''Большой словарь русских поговорок'' (''The Larger Dictionary of Russian Sayings''), eds. В. М. Мокиенко, Т. Г. Никитина. Moscow. Олма Медиа Групп. 2007.) while the bottom text marks "Colonel Putin and Colonel [[Muammar Gaddafi|Gaddafi]]", 24 December 2011]] In May 2000, ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote:
"When a band of former [[Soviet dissident]]s declared in February that Putinism was nothing short of modernised [[Stalinism]], they were widely dismissed as hysterical prophets of doom. 'Authoritarianism is growing harsher, society is being militarised, the military budget is increasing,' they warned, before calling on the West to 're-examine its attitude towards the Kremlin leadership, to cease indulging it in its barbaric actions, its dismantlement of democracy and suppression of human rights.' In the light of Putin's actions during his first days in power, their warnings have gained an uneasy new resonance".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/may/29/russia.ameliagentleman|title=Back to the USSR|newspaper=The Guardian|date=29 May 2000|access-date=24 February 2009 |location=London |first=Amelia |last=Gentleman}}In February 2007, [[Arnold Beichman]], a conservative research fellow at the [[Hoover Institution]], wrote in ''[[The Washington Times]]'' that "Putinism in the 21st century has become as significant a watchword as Stalinism was in the 20th".{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/feb/10/20070210-101939-5365r/|title=Regression in Russia|work=[[Washington Times]]|date=10 February 2009|access-date=24 February 2009}} Also in 2007, Lionel Beehner, formerly a senior writer for the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], maintained that on Putin's watch [[nostalgia]] for Stalin had grown even among young Russians and Russians' [[neo-Stalinism]] manifesting itself in several ways.[http://www.cfr.org/publication/13697/ Russia's Soviet Past Still Haunts Relations with West] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202063214/http://www.cfr.org/publication/13697/ |date=2 December 2008 }} by Lionel Beehner. [[Council on Foreign Relations]]. 29 June 2007. In February 2007, responding to a listener's assertion that "Putin had steered the country to Stalinism" and "all entrepreneurs" were being jailed in Russia, the [[Russian opposition]] radio host [[Yevgeniya Albats]] said: "Come on, this is not true; there is no Stalinism, no concentration camps—thankfully". She went on to say that if citizens of the country would not be critical of what was occurring around them, referring to the "orchestrated, or genuine" calls for the "[[tsar]] to stay on", that "could blaze the trail for very ugly things and a very tough regime in our country".[http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/albac/55902/ "Full Albats"]. [[Ekho Moskvy]]. [[Yevgeniya Albats]]. 28 October 2007. (in Russian) === Ideology as "State First" === While some might argue that Putin's leadership does not reflect an ideology, Chris Miller has discerned three beliefs which are consistent with Putin's announcements and account for his actions. This three-part ideology must be understood in the context of the history of Russia and of Putin himself. When Putin began his political career, the Soviet Union was unable to effectively collect taxes or provide services in part due to inadequate governmental control of the empire. Putin believed that the government needed to first establish strong centralized control of the empire. To maintain that central control has always been his highest priority. Second, to keep the populace supportive of his government and thus to prevent revolt, Putin believes that the key is rising wages and pensions. In that way, he maintains enough of a popular base that the populace tends to tolerate other problems. Third, economic progress depends heavily on private enterprises but only so long as those enterprises do not interfere with either central government control or rising salaries and pensions. When a private enterprise threatens either belief one or two, then the government takes control of the enterprise so that the enterprise supports beliefs one and two. These three beliefs are not followed without some compromises, but Miller argues that these beliefs help explain the behavior of Putin.{{Cite book |first=Chris |last=Miller |title= Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia |year=2018 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn= 978-1469640662 |page=217}} == Criticism == === Personality cult === [[File:PresidentPutin.JPG|thumb|Satirical cartoon about Putin's influence on the media]] In June 2001, the [[BBC]] noted that a year after Putin took office, the Russian media had been reflecting on what some saw as a growing [[personality cult]] around him: Russia's [[TV-6 (Russia)|TV-6]] television had shown a vast choice of portraits of Putin on sale at a shopping mall in an underground passage near Moscow's Park of Culture.[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/not_in_website/syndication/monitoring/media_reports/1390283.stm Private enterprise meets personality cult.] [[BBC]]. 15 June 2001. In October 2007, some scenes at the United Russia congress caused Belarus President [[Alexander Lukashenko]], who was allied to Russia within the "[[Union State]]", to recall the Soviet times, complete with the official adoration towards the Communist Party leader and talking to Russia's regional press representatives he said that in Russia {{ill|Putin's personality cult|ru|Культ личности Путина}} was being created.{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.lenta.ru/news/2007/10/12/luka/ Лукашенко обнаружил в России культ личности Путина]. ("Lukashenko has discovered Putin's personality cult in Russia"). 12 October 2007. In 2008, the [[Paris]]-based [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] reported that ahead of the December parliamentary and March presidential elections, in which despite being required by the constitution to leave office, Putin was widely expected to find some way to retain power as his personality cult was gathering pace.[http://www.haaba.com/news-story/putin-personality-cult-gathers-pace-ahead-election Putin personality cult gathers pace ahead of election.] [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]]. 15 October 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511183405/http://www.haaba.com/news-story/putin-personality-cult-gathers-pace-ahead-election |date=11 May 2008 }} After Medvedev was elected president in March 2008, [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]]-funded [[Radio Liberty]] reported that during his eight-year presidency Putin had managed to build a personality cult around himself similar to those created by Soviet leaders. Although there had not been giant statues of Putin put up across the country (like those of Stalin before), he had the honor of being the only Russian leader to have had a pop song written about him: "[[Takogo kak Putin|A man like Putin]]", which hit the charts in 2002.[https://www.rferl.org/a/1079604.html Russia: Can Medvedev Create Putin-Style Personality Cult?]. [[Radio Liberty]]. 7 March 2008. The formation and promotion of the Putin's personality cult have been provoking opposition political figures reactions, pointing out the negative changes in Putin's mentality. For example, in April 2014, in an interview with journalists [[Boris Nemtsov]] called Putin a mental patient. This statement was used as the basis for initiation of criminal proceeding against Nemtsov but, eventually, the case was requalified to administrative offence.{{cite news|last=Kichanova|first=Vera|date=6 October 2014|title=Немцов избежал уголовного преследования за мат в адрес Путина|language=ru|work=Republic.ru|url=https://republic.ru/posts/l/1167356}} In 2016, an application, requiring Putin's [[mental health]] check-ups and the termination his [[President of Russia|presidential authority]] on his [[Mental disorder|mental illness]] ground under the procedure provided for in the article 92 of the [[Constitution of Russia]], was lodged with [[Prime Minister of Russia]]. The negative response to this request was appealed to the court but the administrative claim was dismissed in 2017.{{cite news|author=|date=17 July 2017|title=Новосибирец пытался добиться проверки психического здоровья Путина|language=ru|work=[[Kasparov.ru]]|url=https://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=596C8B9DD5714}} In an interview with Spanish newspaper ''[[El País]]'', Russian opposition politician [[Alexei Navalny]] said that "It is difficult for me to understand exactly what is going on in [Putin's] mind. ... 20 years of power would spoil anyone and make them crazy. He thinks he can do whatever he wants."{{cite news |title=Alexey Navalny: 'I have no doubt that Putin gave the order to poison me' |url=https://english.elpais.com/international/2020-12-14/alexei-navalny-i-have-no-doubt-that-putin-gave-the-order-to-poison-me.html |work=El País |date=14 December 2020}} === FSB influence === [[File:Vladimir Putin 18 January 2002-2.jpg|thumb|right|Putin and [[Nikolai Patrushev]] at a meeting of the board of the Federal Security Service]] According to some scholars,[https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08850600500483699 The Chekist Takeover of the Russian State], Julie Anderson, ''International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence'', Volume 19, Issue 2, May 2006, pages 237–288.[https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08850600601079958 The HUMINT Offensive from Putin's Chekist State] Julie Anderson, ''International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence'', Volume 20, Issue 2, June 2007, pages 258–316. Russia under Putin has been transformed into an "[[Federal Security Service (Russia)|FSB]] state". Shortly after becoming Russian prime minister, Putin was reported to have joked to a group of his KGB associates: "A group of FSB colleagues dispatched to work undercover in the government has successfully completed its first mission".{{cite web|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/47922334.html?dids=47922334:47922334&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+12%2C+2000&author=RICHARD+C.+PADDOCK&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=1&desc=COLUMN+ONE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312112427/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/47922334.html?dids=47922334:47922334&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+12%2C+2000&author=RICHARD+C.+PADDOCK&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=1&desc=COLUMN+ONE |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 March 2007 |title=''The KGB Rises Again in Russia'' – by R.C. Paddock – ''Los Angeles Times''. 12 January 2000 |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |date=12 January 2000 |access-date=24 March 2014}}[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Putin's+personality+cult:+The+real+Vladimir+Putin+--+career+KGB...-a084650472 Putin's personality cult: The real Vladimir Putin — career KGB officer and figurehead for a vast criminal collective — is disguised by the Kremlin myth of his popularity as a pro-Western national hero of Russia]. 8 April 2002. The former [[Securitate]] [[Lieutenant General]] and [[defector]] [[Ion Mihai Pacepa]] wrote in [[National Review Online]] in 2006 that former KGB officers were running Russia and that FSB had the right to monitor the population electronically, control political process, search private property, cooperate with employees of the federal government, create [[Front organization|front enterprises]], investigate cases and run its own prisons.[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ= The Kremlin's Killing Ways] – by Ion Mihai Pacepa, National Review Online. 28 November 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808171854/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ= |date=8 August 2007 }} Various 2006 estimates showed that Russia had above 200,000 members of the FSB, or one FSB employee for every 700 citizens of Russia (the exact number of the overall FSB staff is [[classified information|classified]]).[http://www.ng.ru/politics/2006-01-27/2_stolica.html FSB will get new members, the capital will get new land], by Igor Plugataryov and Viktor Myasnikov, [[Nezavisimaya Gazeta]], 2006, (in Russian) The [[Russian Armed Forces]] [[General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation|General Staff]] as well as its subordinate structures, such as the Russian [[Strategic Missile Troops]] headquarters, are not submitted to the Federal Security Service,[http://www.mil.ru/eng/ Russian Armed Forces], official site (in English) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014000345/http://www.mil.ru/eng/ |date=14 October 2007 }} but the FSB might be interested in monitoring such structures as they intrinsically involve state secrets and various degrees of admittance to them.{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.fsb.ru/under/secret.html Law on State Secrets], 1997 edition {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024195605/http://www.fsb.ru/under/secret.html |date=24 October 2007 }} The Law on Federal Security Service{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.fsb.ru/under/pologen.html Law about the Organs of the Federal Security Service] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070905010445/http://www.fsb.ru/under/pologen.html |date=5 September 2007 }} which defines its functions and establishes its structure does not involve such tasks as managing strategic branches of national industry, controlling political groups, or infiltrating the federal government. In 2006, political scientist Julie Anderson wrote: "Under Russian Federation President and former career foreign intelligence officer Vladimir Putin, an 'FSB State' composed of [[Chekism|chekists]] has been established and is consolidating its hold on the country. Its closest partners are [[organized crime|organized criminals]]. In a world marked by a [[globalization|globalized economy]] and information infrastructure, and with [[List of designated terrorist organizations|transnational terrorism groups]] utilizing all available means to achieve their goals and further their interests, [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|Russian intelligence]] collaboration with these elements is potentially disastrous". [[File:Yulia Navalny, Alexey Navalny and Ilya Yashin at Moscow rally 2013-06-12.JPG|thumb|Russia's opposition politician [[Alexey Navalny]] accused the FSB of being behind his poisoning.]] Russian historian [[Yuri Felshtinsky]] compared the takeover of the Russian state by the ''siloviki'' to an imaginary scenario of the [[Gestapo]] coming to power in [[Germany]] after [[World War II]]. He pointed out a fundamental difference between the [[secret police]] and ordinary [[political parties]], even [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] ones, such as the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], i.e. Russia's secret police organizations are wont to employ the so-called [[active measures]] and [[extrajudicial killing]]s, hence they killed [[Alexander Litvinenko]] and directed [[Russian apartment bombings]] and other terrorism acts in Russia to frighten the civilian population and achieve their political objectives, according to Felstinsky.[http://www.c-span.org/video/?200627-1/book-discussion-blowing-russia-secret-plot Blowing Up Russia: The Secret Plot to Bring Back KGB Terror]. Historian [[Yuri Felshtinsky]] explains his views on the nature of Putinism on [[C-SPAN]]. In April 2006, [[Reuel Marc Gerecht]], a former [[Middle East]] specialist at the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA), presented a list of those who had "mysteriously" died during Putin's presidency and wrote: "Vladimir Putin's Russia is a new phenomenon in Europe: a state defined and dominated by former and active-duty security and intelligence officers. Not even [[Fascism|fascist]] [[Italy]], [[Nazi Germany]], or the Soviet Union – all undoubtedly much worse creations than Russia – were as top-heavy with intelligence talent. [...] There is no historical precedent for a society so dominated by former and active-duty internal-security and intelligence officials – men who rose up in a professional culture in which murder could be an acceptable, even obligatory, business practice. [...] Those who operated within the Soviet sphere were the most malevolent in their practices. These men mentored and shaped Putin and his closest friends and allies. It is therefore unsurprising that Putin's Russia has become an [[assassination]]-happy state where detention, interrogation, and torture – all tried and true methods of the Soviet KGB – are used to silence the voices of untoward journalists and businessmen who annoy or threaten Putin's FSB state".[http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.25917/pub_detail.asp A Rogue Intelligence State? Why Europe and America Cannot Ignore Russia] by Reuel Marc Gerecht. 6 April 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914154832/http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.25917/pub_detail.asp |date=14 September 2007 }} One of the leading members of Putin's ruling elite, [[Nikolai Patrushev]], director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (August 1999–May 2008) and subsequently secretary of the [[Security Council of Russia]], was known for his propagation of the idea of "chekists" as "neo-aristocrats" ({{langx|ru|неодворяне}}).{{in lang|ru}} [http://kp.ru/daily/22458/7028/ Директор Федеральной службы безопасности России Николай Патрушев: Если мы «сломаемся» и уйдем с Кавказа – начнется развал страны]. Patrushev's interview to ''[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]''. 20 December 2000.{{in lang|ru}} [http://txt.newsru.com/russia/06nov2007/imperia.html В России уже почти 15 тысяч "новых дворян": Ксения Собчак, Алексий II, Николай Патрушев]. [[NEWSru]]. 6 November 2007.{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.agentura.ru/forum/archive/2760.html «Неодворяне» перегрызлись] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218134639/http://www.agentura.ru/forum/archive/2760.html |date=18 February 2012 }} by Alexander Golts 16 September 2006. A report by [[Andrew Kuchins|Andrew C. Kuchins]] in November 2007 said: "The predominance of the intelligence services and mentality is a core feature of Putin's Russia that marks a major and critical discontinuity from not only the 1990s but all of Soviet and Russian history. During the Soviet period, the Communist Party provided the glue holding the system together. During the 1990s, there was no central organizing institution or ideology. Now, with Putin, it is "former" KGB professionals who dominate the Russian ruling elite. This is a special kind of brotherhood, a mafia-like culture in which only a few can be trusted. The working culture is secretive and nontransparent".[http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/071214-russia_2017-web.pdf Alternative Futures for Russia to 2017]. A Report of the Russia and Eurasia Program, [[Center for Strategic and International Studies]]. November 2007. Page 5. === Cronyism and corruption === {{see also|Russian oligarch|Corruption in Russia}} [[File:Nizhny Novgorod. Anti-Corruption Rally (26 March 2017).jpg|thumb|The [[Levada Center]] survey showed that 58% of surveyed Russians supported the [[2017–2018 Russian protests]] against high-level corruption."[http://www.levada.ru/2017/06/13/aktsii-protesta-12-iyunya/ Акции протеста 12 июня]". [[Levada Centre]]. 13 June 2017.]] Russia, under Putin's regime, has often been referred to as a [[kleptocracy]] and an [[oligarchy]].{{cite journal|last=Fish|first=M. Steven|title=What Has Russia Become?|jstor=26532689|journal=Comparative Politics|volume=50|number=3|date=April 2018|pages=327–346|publisher=[[City University of New York]]|location=New York City|doi=10.5129/001041518822704872}}{{cite journal|last1=Guriev|first1=Sergei|last2=Rachinsky|first2=Andrei|title=The Role of Oligarchs in Russian Capitalism|year=2005|volume=19|number=1|journal=The Journal of Economic Perspectives|pages=131–150|publisher=[[American Economic Association]]|doi=10.1257/0895330053147994 |jstor=4134996|s2cid=17653502 |doi-access=free}} In 2000, Russia's [[political analyst]] [[Andrei Piontkovsky]] called Putinism "the highest and culminating stage of bandit capitalism in Russia".[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/4094.html#1 Putinism: highest stage of robber capitalism], by [[Andrei Piontkovsky]]. ''The Russia Journal''. 7–13 February 2000. The title is an allusion to work "[[Imperialism]] as the last and culminating stage of capitalism" by [[Vladimir Lenin]] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711235241/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/4094.html#1 |date=11 July 2007 }} He said that "Russia is not corrupt. [[Political corruption|Corruption]] is what happens in all countries when businessmen offer officials large bribes for favors. Today's Russia is unique. The businessmen, the politicians, and the bureaucrats are the same people. They have [[Privatization in Russia|privatized]] the country's wealth and taken control of its financial flows".[http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=4852 Review of Andrei's Pionkovsky's ''Another Look Into Putin's Soul'' by the Honorable Rodric Braithwaite], [[Hoover Institute]] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230557/http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=4852 |date=27 September 2007 }} According to scholar [[Karen Dawisha]], 110 of Putin's cronies control 35% of Russia's wealth.{{cite book|title=Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwWZBAAAQBAJ&q=%22democracy+for+decoration+rather+than+direction%22&pg=PA8|access-date=3 October 2015|date=30 September 2014|pages=8|last1=Dawisha|first1=Karen|isbn=978-1476795218|publisher=Simon and Schuster}} In concluding her book ''A Russian Diary'' (2007), the Russian [[investigative journalist]] [[Anna Politkovskaya]] said: "Our state authorities today are only interested in making money. That is literally all they are interested in".[[Anna Politkovskaya]]. ''A Russian Diary'', Vintage Books, London, 2008, p. 300. Such views were shared by politologist Julie Anderson who said the same person can be a Russian intelligence officer, an organized criminal and a businessman, who quoted the former CIA director [[James Woolsey]] as saying: "I have been particularly concerned for some years, beginning during my tenure, with the interpenetration of Russian organized crime, Russian intelligence and [[Law enforcement in Russia|law enforcement]], and Russian business. I have often illustrated this point with the following hypothetical: If you should chance to strike up a conversation with an articulate, English-speaking Russian in, say, the restaurant of one of the luxury hotels along Lake Geneva, and he is wearing a $3,000 suit and a pair of Gucci loafers, and he tells you that he is an executive of a Russian trading company and wants to talk to you about a joint venture, then there are four possibilities. He may be what he says he is. He may be a Russian intelligence officer working under commercial cover. He may be part of a Russian organized crime group. But the really interesting possibility is that he may be all three and that none of those three institutions have any problem with the arrangement".(''Congressional Statement of R. James Woolsey, Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 21 September 1999, Hearing on the Bank of New York and Russian Money Laundering'') [[File:Opening of the Crimean bridge (2018-05-15) 01.jpg|thumb|Putin's childhood friend [[Arkady Rotenberg]] is one of the richest people in Russia.{{cite news |title=Richest families in Russia as of July 15, 2020, based on assets |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1156415/richest-families-in-russia/ |work=Statista.com}}]] In April 2006, Putin himself expressed extreme irritation about the ''de facto'' privatization of the customs sphere, where smart officials and entrepreneurs "merged in ecstasy".[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2006-119-19.cfm Pavel K. Baev. Putin's fight against corruption resembles matryoshka doll] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010044134/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2006-119-19.cfm |date=10 October 2007 }} According to the estimates published in "Putin and Gazprom" by Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Milov, Putin and his friends pilfered assets of $80 billion from Gazprom during his second term as president.{{cite web|author=Anders Åslund |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1016/42/373401.htm |title=Crisis Puts Putinomics to the Test |work=[[The Moscow Times]] |date=24 December 2008 |access-date=24 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225193048/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1016/42/373401.htm |archive-date=25 December 2008 |author-link=Anders Åslund }}[http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/opeds/oped.cfm?ResearchID=1086 Crisis Puts Putinomics to the Test] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101071643/http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/opeds/oped.cfm?ResearchID=1086 |date=1 January 2009 }} Peterson Institute for International Economics On 29 January 2009, Russian billionaire [[Alexander Lebedev]] claimed that Prime Minister Putin's strategy for economic recovery was based on cronyism and was fueling corruption and also said: "We have two Putins. There are lots of words, but the system doesn't work".{{cite web|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1009/42/374055.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918121928/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1009/42/374055.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 September 2012 |title=Lebedev Slams Putin's Anti-Crisis Strategy |work=[[The Moscow Times]] |date=30 January 2009 |access-date=3 February 2009 }} In March 2017, [[Alexei Navalny]] and the [[Anti-Corruption Foundation]] published another in-depth investigation of properties and residences used by [[Dmitry Medvedev]] and his family. A report called ''[[He Is Not Dimon To You]]'' shows how Medvedev allegedly owns and controls large areas of land, villas, palaces, yachts, expensive apartments, wineries and estates through complicated ownership structures involving shell companies and foundations.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrwlk7_GF9g|script-title=ru:Он вам не Димон|publisher=[[Alexei Navalny]] on YouTube|access-date=5 April 2017|language=ru|archive-date=28 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328021257/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrwlk7_GF9g|url-status=live |date=2 March 2017 }} === Nepotism === Russians critical of the [[2022 Russian mobilization]] have used social media and other electronic means (e.g. [[Twitter]]) to enquire en masse Russia's top officials and deputies, who supported [[Russo-Ukrainian War|war with Ukraine]] and mobilization, whether they themselves or their sons would go to the front. Most of them either refused to answer or gave excuses, such as Alexey Mishustin (premier [[Mikhail Mishustin]]'s son), ignored the citizens' questions (Moscow city council deputy Andrey Zyuganov, the grandson of [[Gennady Zyuganov]]) or blocked the person asking (e.g. [[Dmitry Rogozin]]'s reaction to the BBC question on Twitter, whether he has advised his son Alexey to volunteer){{Cite web |date=22 September 2022 |title="У них есть более важные и срочные дела". Что отвечают чиновники и депутаты на предложение отправиться в военкомат |url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-62999426 |website=BBC News Russian |language=ru}} [[Nikolay Peskov]], the son of Putin's spokesman [[Dmitry Peskov]], told pranksters, who pretended to be recruitment officers, that he had no intention of going to war and would resolve the issue "on a different level."{{cite news |title=Pranksters called the son of one of Putin's closest allies and told him he is being enlisted in the army — but he refused |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/pranksters-tell-kremlin-officials-son-hes-being-enlisted-he-refused-2022-9 |work=Business Insider |date=22 September 2022}} It was seen as an example of [[nepotism]] in Putin's Russia.{{cite news |title=Draft-dodging son of top Putin aide caught exempting himself from fighting in Ukraine war |url=https://fortune.com/2022/09/22/draft-dodging-son-top-putin-aide-dmitry-peskov-caught-exempting-himself-fighting-in-ukraine-war/ |work=Fortune |date=22 September 2022}} === Panama Papers === {{see also|Panama Papers}} The [[Panama Papers]] revealed a network of secret offshore deals and vast loans worth $2bn (£1.4bn) that seem to lay a trail to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. The transactions include fake share deals; multimillion-dollar charges for vague "consultancy" services; and repeated payments of large sums in "compensation" for allegedly cancelled share deals and a $200m loan for $1. Though his name does not appear in any of the records, the data shows how deals that seemingly could not have been secured without his patronage made members of his close circle fabulously wealthy.[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore Panama Papers: a special investigation: Revealed: the $2bn offshore trail that leads to Vladimir Putin]. ''The Guardian''. 3 April 2016. Putin's name does not appear in any of the records released to date, but those of his associates do. Construction billionaires [[Arkady Rotenberg|Arkady]] and [[Boris Romanovich Rotenberg|Boris Rotenberg]], musician [[Sergei Roldugin]], business magnate [[Alisher Usmanov]] and billionaire [[Gennady Timchenko]] are mentioned in the leaked documents. === Putin's Palace === {{Main|Putin's Palace}} On 19 January 2021, the documentary film ''[[Putin's Palace (film)|Putin's Palace. History of World's Largest Bribe]]'' produced by the [[Anti-Corruption Foundation]] was released on [[YouTube]]. The film investigates the Residence at Cape Idokopas commonly known as [[Putin's Palace]] that it claims was constructed for President Vladimir Putin and details a corruption scheme allegedly headed by Putin involving the construction of the palace. The film estimates that the residence, located near the town of [[Gelendzhik]] in [[Krasnodar Krai]], cost over ₽100 billion (approximately $1.35 billion) with what it says was "the largest bribe in history". The film ''[[Putin's Palace (film)|Putin's Palace. History of World's Largest Bribe]]'' is the best known but neither the first nor last investigation of the corruption scheme in the construction of the [[Putin's Palace|Residence at Cape Idokopas]]. === Russian apartment bombings === {{Main|Russian apartment bombings}} According to [[David Satter]], [[Yuri Felshtinsky]], [[Alexander Litvinenko]], [[Vladimir Pribylovsky]] and [[Boris Kagarlitsky]], the bombings were a successful [[false flag operation]] coordinated by the Russian state security services to win public support for a new full-scale war in Chechnya and to bring Putin to power.{{cite news |last1=Cockburn |first1=Patrick |title=Russia 'planned Chechen war before bombings' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-planned-chechen-war-before-bombings-727324.html |newspaper=Independent |access-date=14 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827150331/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-planned-chechen-war-before-bombings-727324.html |archive-date=27 August 2009 |url-status=dead |date=29 January 2000}}{{cite web |url=http://www.hudson.org/files/publications/SatterHouseTestimony2007.pdf |title=David Satter – House committee on Foreign Affairs |access-date=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110927065706/http://www.hudson.org/files/publications/SatterHouseTestimony2007.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2011}}{{Citation |last1=Felshtinsky |first1=Yuri |author-link1=Yuri Felshtinsky |last2=Pribylovsky |first2=Vladimir |author-link2=Vladimir Pribylovsky |title=The Age of Assassins. The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin |publisher=Gibson Square Books |place=London |isbn=978-1-906142-07-0 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/apr/20/politics |date=20 April 2008 |access-date=23 May 2010 |pages=105–111}}{{YouTube|PnkYo9TuBIQ}} ''In Memoriam Aleksander Litvinenko'', Jos de Putter, Tegenlicht documentary VPRO 2007, Moscow, 2004 Interview with [[Anna Politkovskaya]]{{Cite book |last=Evangelista |first=Matthew |title=Unarmed Forces: The Transnational Movement to End the Cold War |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-8014-8784-6 |page=81}}{{cite journal |last=Dettmer |first=Jamie |title=Did Putin's Agents Plant the Bombs? |date=17 April 2000 |journal=[[Insight on the News]] |volume=16 |issue=14 |via=[[FindArticles]] |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_14_16/ai_61892243/print |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930094108/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_14_16/ai_61892243/print |archive-date=30 September 2008 |url-status=usurped}}’’The consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia’’ by [[Joel M. Ostrow]], [[Georgy Satarov|Georgiy Satarov]], [[Irina Khakamada]] p.96[https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=f4f5cf0c-9104-4b3f-8ebe-84f3dc24c51b McCain decries "new authoritarianism in Russia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618030108/https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=F4F5CF0C-9104-4B3F-8EBE-84F3DC24C51B |date=18 June 2017}}, [[John McCain]]'s press release, 4 November 2003{{cite web |url=https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/electionbulletin1-00.doc |title=RUSSIAN ELECTION WATCH No. 6, January 2000 |author= |date=January 2000 |website=[[Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs]] |publisher=Harvard University (John F. Kennedy School of Government) |access-date=29 October 2018 |archive-date=30 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030014021/https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/electionbulletin1-00.doc |url-status=live}} Some of them described the bombings as typical "[[active measures]]" practised by the [[KGB]] in the past. The war in Chechnya boosted prime minister and former FSB director Vladimir Putin's popularity, and brought the pro-war [[Unity (political party, Russia)|Unity Party]] to the [[State Duma]] and Putin to the presidency within a few months. == See also == * [[Putinland]] * [[Putinversteher]] * [[Economy of Russia#Recovery and growth (1999–2008)|Recovery and growth of the Russian economy (1999–2008)]] * [[Russian oligarch]]s * [[Putinism]] * [[History of the Russian Federation]] * [[Political groups under Vladimir Putin's presidency]] * [[Spain under Francisco Franco]] == References == {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * Breslauer, George W. and Colton, Timothy J. 2017. ''[https://www.amacad.org/daedalus/russia-beyond-putin Russia Beyond Putin]''. [[Daedalus (journal)]]. ==External links== * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt_6mPxgUNI "Putinism: the ideology"] – 1:20 lecture by professor [[Anne Applebaum]] spoken in London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), recorded on Monday 28 January 2013. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9EVB5q0_SQ "Putinism and Russian Protest"] – 2:00 panel lecture/discussion in University of California Television, published on 29 October 2012. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch7j8ldsiP8 "Can Putin Contain Post-Putinism?"] – 1:20 lecture at ICDS (International Centre for Defence Studies), published on 28 November 2012. * Haroon, Agha Iqrar. [http://www.dispatchnewsdesk.com/the-putinist-approach-and-half-hearted-european-union-ukraine-is-a-story-of-a-beautiful-lady-being-loved-by-two-men/ "The "Putinist Approach" and "Half hearted" European Union—Ukraine is a story of a "Love Triangle" of a beautiful lady being loved by two men"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230172553/https://www.dispatchnewsdesk.com/the-putinist-approach-and-half-hearted-european-union-ukraine-is-a-story-of-a-beautiful-lady-being-loved-by-two-men/ |date=30 December 2017 }} (4 December 2013). {{s-start}} {{s-other|[[List of presidents of Russia|Russian presidential administrations]]}} {{s-bef|before=[[Presidency of Boris Yeltsin|Boris Yeltsin]]}} {{s-ttl|title=1st Putin presidency|years=2000–2008}} {{s-aft|after=[[Presidency of Dmitry Medvedev|Dmitry Medvedev]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Presidency of Dmitry Medvedev|Dmitry Medvedev]]}} {{s-ttl|title=2nd Putin presidency|years=2012–present}} {{s-aft|after=Incumbent}} {{s-end}} {{Vladimir Putin}} {{Russian Presidential Administrations}} {{Privatization in Russia}} [[Category:1990s in Russia]] [[Category:2000s in Russia]] [[Category:2010s in Russia]] [[Category:2020s in Russia]] [[Category:Presidency of Russia]] [[Category:History of Russia (1991–present)]] [[Category:Authoritarianism]] [[Category:Russian nationalism]] [[Category:Politics of Russia]] [[Category:Corruption in Russia]] [[Category:Vladimir Putin]] [[Category:Far-right politics in Russia]] [[Category:Putinism]] [[Category:Democratic backsliding in Russia]] [[Category:Political history of Russia]]