Running Russia as a near-absolute monarch was never enough for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The story of his 21-year rule is equally about trying to formulate Russia’s proposition to the rest of the world — a kind of national brand message, something that was lost when the Soviet Union ceased to be the global purveyor of the far-left ideal.
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Leonid Bershidsky: Putin offers false comfort to Western conservatives
Russian President Vladimir Putin votes online on the first day of the three-day parliamentary election at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Sept. 17, 2021.