During his almost 25 years in power, the Russian ruler has increasingly distanced his country from the Western community. How did this happen? Two prominent Russians try to explain how the Kremlin boss thinks.
When Vladimir Putin is re-elected president of Russia this weekend, the question on many people’s minds is: what should the world prepare for? What will Putin come up with this time? How far will he distance himself from the EU and the US in his next six years in office? And how was it possible to reach this point, where the former hope of rapprochement with Europe remained just an empty wish and the former bearer of hope became a bitter fighter against the Western world 24 years later?
Two Russians struggle to find an answer; two men from very different backgrounds and generations. Both are known to an audience of millions in their home country of Russia – one, aged 60, through dozens of award-winning documentaries; the other, aged just 24, through dozens of controversial appearances on the internet. Vitaly Mansky is Russia’s best-known documentary filmmaker, Alexander Stefanov is Russia’s best-known YouTube historian. Both know Putin: Mansky personally, as the author of two films about the Russian president, Stefanov through the media and his studies in political science.
Behind the scenes at the Kremlin
Vitaly Mansky portrayed the backstage of the Kremlin in 2000 for his film Russia – The Beginning. He followed Putin to his private residence at night and accompanied him to his swimming pool in the morning. During filming, the director became closer to the president than almost any other Kremlin official. Manski now lives in Latvia and has no interest in meeting Putin again.
The young Youtuber, on the other hand, lives in Russia and dreams of meeting the head of state in person. Stefanov doesn’t know any other ruler in Russia apart from Putin. “Change of power? How does that work?” he jokes. When the 24-year-old was born, Putin arrived in the Kremlin.
“What a smart guy!”
Stefanov first became aware of Putin on television when he was 10 years old, as a character in a political satire. “There was an episode in which the exchange between Putin and Medvedev was shown in an amusing way. I thought how skillfully Putin arranged things! What a clever guy!” he says, referring to Putin’s temporary switch from president to prime minister after two terms. Putin’s childhood friend Dmitry Medvedev became president during this period. Later, the two switched positions again.
Over the years, however, Stefanov’s perception of Putin became increasingly negative. “I saw him less and less as a person and more and more as a political figure with no fears or doubts.” For the young man, these are the consequences of state propaganda. “They dehumanize Putin and deify him so that everyone can say: ‘He was given to us by God!
“Very different atmosphere”
Director Vitaly Mansky describes Putin’s metamorphosis from a personal observation that began much earlier. He visited the Kremlin before Putin, where the politicians of the 1990s “walked around in sky-blue overalls and woolly scarves”, which was certainly a sign of the liberal politics of Putin’s predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. “The elections were held on March 26, 2000, then came the inauguration in May and then, peng!, in September, the atmosphere was completely different.”
After Yeltsin, whom Mansky describes as a “peculiar ruler”, a completely new type of head of state emerged. “He was the choice of the liberal bloc around Yeltsin. The opposite of his predecessor: young, sporty, liberal. But also a statesman who kept the state in order,” says Manski. “Putin worked with this contrast, but he wasn’t the author of this image. He was just fulfilling the role that his political advisors had prescribed for him. He was very careful not to slip up, not to stumble.” The Russian president, according to Mansky, strove to appear even more Western and liberal than was required of him. “For example, Putin always referred to the decisions of others. He was very respectful of others,” he says.
He always saw the West as a rival
The young historian Stefanov believes that Putin was fascinated by the West in his early years and only later became disillusioned. “After all, Russia (in the early 2000s) managed to score political points, the economy stabilized, and oil prices rose. But Putin was not satisfied with the system of international relations after the Cold War. That’s why he criticized the isolated dominance of the US.”
Filmmaker Manski believes that Putin never liked the West. “He always had a clear attitude towards the West, considering it an opponent to Russia’s development. That’s his basic understanding.” Under Yeltsin, Russia joined many international institutions. Although the exit was difficult for Putin, he pursued it consistently. “All the measures he took in the following years were aimed at withdrawing Russia from the international community.”
“He had to lie”
He claims that the people who invented him, his political advisors and members of the Yeltsin family, let the situation unfold on its own too soon. And Putin took on a life of his own very quickly. And by 2004, there was no longer any control over him. “He distanced himself from the liberal group of his advisors. And when he became independent, he began to realize his idea of good and evil. His worldview, his idea of state organization never changed. He had to lie to fit in with liberal doctrine.”
Putin’s metamorphosis was logical, according to the documentary maker, but it didn’t come immediately. “Winter doesn’t come immediately either. First comes rain, then snow and frost. The question is how long this winter will last,” says Manski.
For Youtuber Stefanov, the answer is clear: not for long. He firmly believes that Russia can become freer in the next six years, despite Putin. He says that, after all, his homeland has always been part of European civilization and that will continue to be the case.
“What else can a 24-year-old believe in?” says Manski, 60, with a smile. “It’s good that there are people who brighten up our gray everyday life with their optimism.” But he himself has long since lost any illusions. “No liberalization, no thaw is possible. Any loosening of the reins is destructive for this system.”
However, the young Youtuber and the older filmmaker agree on one thing: they both believe that Vladimir Putin will control Russia’s destiny until his death.
*** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI Team ***