No state of the nation address, no annual press conference, no Christmas ceremony in the Kremlin. Reversals on the battlefield have made him a messenger of bad news.
As they recognize in the Kremlin, “Russia is a besieged fortress and Putin is its commander”, but the reality is that events on the Ukrainian front are beginning to influence the political agenda dangerously.
(Also: Volodymyr Zelenskiy asks US for more help to hasten Ukraine’s victory)
Putin, who did not suspend any of those events during the coronavirus pandemic, He only presides over events where everything is controlled down to the last detail like a medal ceremony in the Kremlin or a session of the Council of State, a purely advisory soviet.
Since 2012 Putin has faced questions from the press every year for about four hours.
He has done so without fail since returning to the Kremlin after a four-year hiatus as prime minister. (2008-12). This year he has decided to break with tradition.
(Also: What does it mean for the US to deliver Patriot anti-missile systems to Ukraine?
With the Ukraine conflict going on, surely some of the foreign correspondents’ questions would allude to the complicated situation at the front and the humiliating Russian withdrawals from the Kharkov and Kherson regions.
In the menu of the local press there would also be uncomfortable questions about the unpopular mobilization, problems with supplies and the participation of recruits in the combats. Putin had much more to lose than to gain.
explain the inexplicable
(Also read: Russia will extend the age to call up its citizens to 30 years)
The president, if he does something, will have to find a way to explain that instead of the overwhelming victory and the denazification of Ukraine (the discursive way in which Putin has justified the war), At this point in the conflict, the enemy has regained the initiative and reconquered part of the annexed territories.
(Keep reading: Russia: Naval Bases And Nuclear Capability, Putin Warns Of Its Military Might)
According to the “Moscow Times” newspaper, which cites sources in the Presidency and the Government, the fear of a Ukrainian sabotage operation similar to those perpetrated in Crimea and at airfields in Russian territory definitely tipped the balance for the cancellation of any act that could undermine the popularity of the head of state.
Putin would have made the decision personally, since the security forces cannot guarantee that such a scenario will not be repeated.
If you do not do the events, would you be violating the Constitution?
The Russian Constitution of 1994 obliges the president to pronounce every year a programmatic speech on the management of the State and the plans for the coming year.
Putin’s previous intervention before the Federal Assembly (Duma and Senate) dates from April 2021, so many now expected him to address deputies and senators with a positive agenda in times of sanctions and isolation.
The Kremlin did not like the fact that the state press was speculating about the dates of the speech and its spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, urged them to stop “forecasting the future in the coffee grounds”, although he himself promised in September that the address would take place this year.
In March 2014 Putin took advantage of the speech to announce the annexation of Crimea and in 2018 an unparalleled hypersonic weapons program capable of circumventing any Western anti-missile shield.
Although some suggest the cancellation is unconstitutionalPutin did not even consult the decision with the president of the Constitutional Court, the Kremlin admitted this week.
According to the polls, more than half of Russians advocate a peaceful settlement of the conflict and, according to independent sources, the percentage of people who believe that Putin was wrong to order military intervention is increasing.
And it is that the contest has had an impact on wages, the cost of living and trips abroad.
Paving the way for re-election
Putin has focused in recent weeks on inaugurating roads, fields, icebreakers and other infrastructure.
He met with mothers of soldiers – all linked to the Kremlin party – but he is reluctant to order an end to the mobilization, although the Ombudsman acknowledges that he receives dozens of daily complaints in this regard.
The press points out that Putin has the 2024 presidential elections in mind.
No one doubts that he will stand for reelection – the constitutional reform allows him to remain in power until 2036 – but for this they have to solve the Ukrainian problem first.
A defeat would turn the elections into a referendum on his person. Ukraine believes that Moscow is preparing a major offensive for early next year in order to turn the tide of the contest.
Putin’s agenda in 2023 will depend on his success. For not having, this year there will not even be the traditional ice hockey game that is held every New Year’s Eve in Red Square with the participation of the country’s top senior officials.
EFE
#Putin #cancels #major #public #events #scheduled #year