Medvedev, here in February 2017 with Putin at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, is trying to make a name for himself by surpassing his master in the radicality of his statements.
Image: AP
In Putin’s apparatus of power, escalation is the order of the day. If you act squeamishly, you lose. And all vie for the favor of their ruler – the louder, the better.
Wfollowing the performances of the people who serve the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin as ministers, MPs, heads of agencies or in other public functions, has many déjà vu experiences: they scold, dispute and accuse, with words, comparisons and pictures, which seem to come from one and the same type case. As if they were competing to outdo each other in hatred of the West and Ukraine. The volume does not necessarily indicate the influence of the respective actor. The Kremlin officials are courting the attention and favor of the man who actually initiated the tirades: Vladimir Putin.
A prominent example is Dmitry Medvedev. The lawyer, who, like many of his followers, knows Putin from their days together in St. Petersburg in the early 1990s, once embodied the hope of a freer, more democratic Russia for some. That was already excessive in the years 2008 to 2012, when Medvedev replaced Putin as head of state, who after two terms as president had to pause because of the constitution and became prime minister.