Putin, Power, and a New Kind of Russia /
I have watched the scene out the window of my flat in Moscow thousands of times in the last 11 years, and I still find it compelling. For me, there is no better way to sum up the nature of power in Russia.
Some 400,000 cars pass by every day on Kutuzovsky Prospect, one of the city’s main highways, at its widest a full 12 lanes. The flow is relentless, the noise deafening, even at night. But then it suddenly stops, and the air fills with an eerie silence.
In an operation of military precision, police clear the lanes and block all access routes. Within a few minutes the highway is emptied, down to the last car. It is deserted, frozen in time. Everyone waits.
Then, on the horizon, flashing blue lights and sirens fill the wide road. A motorcade appears. At speeds of up to 100 miles an hour, an armored dark-blue limousine whizzes by. Traffic wardens stand to attention and salute. The vehicle is flanked by police cars and minivans crammed with men pointing machine guns out the windows.
Inside the limousine, seated comfortably behind drawn curtains as he is driven to work in the Kremlin or to his home in Moscow’s leafy suburbs, is either Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia’s strongman, or President Dmitry Medvedev, his handpicked successor.
A stretch of 30 miles is cleared in this fashion, but Russians have long become accustomed to the discomfort of their leaders’ travel arrangements.
Massive traffic jams ensue but people wait patiently. Publicly at least, nobody complains. Nor has a single lawmaker ever dared suggest curbing such privileges – or proposed that Kremlin leaders switch to helicopters.
The honor used to be reserved for Russia’s president. But now that Putin has moved from the Kremlin to head the government, it has been extended to the prime minister lest he feel a loss of status. As a result, the ritual can take place four times a day.
Few moments better capture the contempt of the Russian state for its people. Power here is bullying, not democratic. It is there to be flaunted, not questioned. Russia’s leaders may be elected but they are still treated like tsars, and they are really accountable only to themselves.
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