When Russia’s first democratically elected president, Boris Yeltsin, resigned on New Year’s Eve 1999, he asked Vladimir Putin, his little-known and hand-picked successor, to “take care of Russia. “
Putin, celebrating his 25 years in power without any sign of relinquishing a single part of his power, told Russia’s 144 million citizens (if they were listening) at his year-end press conference on Dec. 19 that he had not only carried out Yeltsin’s request, However, it exceeded expectations.
“Not only have I dealt with this, but I also know that we have moved away from the abyss,” Putin said. “I did everything possible to make Russia an independent and sovereign state, capable of making decisions in its interests and not in the interests of the countries that attracted it, I patted it on the back and then used it for its own political interests purposes.
FirstPost.com noted that Putin’s is as drunk on power today as he was 25 years ago. “As his reign enters 26th year, he stands much more powerful than Russia’s tsars or Soviet dictators the likes of Stalin.”
In his first speech after becoming acting president of Russia 25 years ago, Putin set the tone for how he’d rule. “Any attempt to exceed the limits of law and the Russian constitution will be decisively crushed,” Putin said, reported the BBC. Soon thereafter, he ordered a full-scale invasion if Chechnya, which won him public approval.
Putin then transformed Russia from a multi-party electoral formula to a centralized one-man regime by getting rid of the opposition and shutting down independent media. Under Putin, the state has tightened its grip on the economy, with public ownership expanding to 70%.
By staging the biggest war in Europe since World War II with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, “Putin has made it clear that he sees Eastern Europe as his sphere of influence,” FirstPost noted.
The Washington Post Russia is “far more precarious than Putin’s rhetoric and bravado suggest. “
Sanctions and a nearly 10% annual inflation rate are also wreaking havoc. Russia’s Central Bank held its key interest rate steady at 21% last week, citing tighter monetary conditions that could help curb inflation.
Although Putin has said he is open to discussing a ceasefire agreement with President-elect Donald Trump, according to Voice of America, he has primary territorial concessions in Ukraine.
“He [Putin] seems to believe that he has won the war,” said journalist Mikhail Zygar, per the Post. “His address carries the implication that, with the Democrats’ loss in the U.S. elections, the Western world he has fought against is defeated — and Putin is delivering his verdict.”
Zygar added that Putin is waiting for Trump to take office.
“Trump is practically seen as the mascot for the end of the old world order and the demise of the liberal democratic ideology.”
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