Nicolas Tonev / Photo credit: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / POOL / AFP
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9:15 p.m., March 18, 2024
Very martial terms. After his overwhelming and highly anticipated victory in the presidential election in Russia, Vladimir Putin, re-elected for a fifth term with 87.28% of the vote, addressed his fellow citizens with very firm words. “To those who want to scare us and put pressure on us. They have never succeeded and will never succeed,” he proclaimed.
A tone which refers to the strategic objectives of the master of the Kremlin. Because through this sentence, Vladimir Putin makes a direct reference to the West which, in general and in different forms, influences the projects of the Russian president.
Four major objectives
The first, the most paradoxical, is that of territorial conquest for defense, according to Moscow. With Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine, the aim is to form an anti-NATO glacis and revive Russian influence. The other long-term project is the societal demonization of a West with degenerate morals. Vladimir Putin wants the Russian people to remain united behind the triptych: one man, one woman, children, which is also a matter of birth rates.
The third orientation consists of empowering Russia economically and especially technologically to, again, be less dependent on the West. A long-term task which justifies the fourth unspoken priority of the Kremlin boss: to keep power as long as possible to succeed in finalizing his strategies, but also to delay the deadline which concerns him the most.
Having eliminated all competition, without a replacement, Vladimir Putin is, at 71 years old, alone, dependent on his oligarchy and services. And in the event of disgrace, he would fear, according to many sources, an end like Saddam Hussein, the former leader of Iraq, or like Gaddafi, that of Libya. Both captured and then killed.