He’s been in power for as long as many Russians can remember. He carried the last presidential election with nearly 77 percent of the vote. And his country commands such attention abroad that its cartoon about a little girl and her bear buddy has been cast by some in the West as a hybrid-warfare “superweapon.”
OP-ED
Steve Gutterman: Where’s Putin’s mojo?
President of Russia Vladimir Putin (3rd L), Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (2nd L) and his wife Svetlana (L) wait for the beginning of the Nutcracker ballet directed by Yury Grigorovich as part of the 2019 New Year gala event held at the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on Dec. 27, 2018.
