{"id":24444,"date":"2023-12-19T15:15:58","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T15:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=24444"},"modified":"2023-12-19T15:15:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T15:15:58","slug":"putins-four-hour-qa-is-a-valuable-insight-into-the-russian-presidents-version-of-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/arts-social-sciences\/putins-four-hour-qa-is-a-valuable-insight-into-the-russian-presidents-version-of-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin\u2019s four-hour Q&A is a valuable insight into the Russian president\u2019s version of\u00a0reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody<\/a> is a Senior Lecturer in politics and international relations academic at The Open University and specialises in communication, misinformation and security, particularly in Russia. Here she gives her view on Vladimir Putin’s appearance at his annual press conference.<\/em><\/p>\n

Russian television audiences didn\u2019t have much choice but to watch Vladimir Putin\u2019s annual press conference<\/a> on December 14 \u2013 it was broadcast on all terrestrial TV networks.<\/p>\n

After a year\u2019s hiatus in 2022, when the success of the Ukrainian autumn counteroffensive meant there was little good news to talk about, Putin returned to the airwaves for a four-hour press conference and phone-in Q&A session in which he answered pre-approved questions and boosted his candidacy<\/a> for next year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

There were reportedly 600 journalists present, the vast majority of them from Russian news outlets. Viewers were treated to Putin as the \u201cman of the people\u201d, willing to answer questions that were, on the face of it, mildly critical of the \u201cspecial military operation\u201d and the effect it had on ordinary people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Questions that came in via text were displayed on a screen in the press conference room, such as: \u201cTell us, when will our lives get better?\u201d and \u201cHello, how can one move to the Russia that they talk about on Channel One?\u201d \u2013 which appeared to be a reference to the pro-government state broadcaster.<\/p>\n

But the event was clearly heavily stage-managed and designed to reflect a leadership that is fully in control of events and confident in both winning the war in Ukraine and a further six-year term of office in next year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

A country at war<\/h2>\n

The war, or the \u201cspecial military operation\u201d, as it is still euphemistically known, was a dominant theme throughout the four-hour event. Putin told viewers that Russia is making advances on all fronts and that \u201cthere will be peace when we achieve our goals. They haven\u2019t changed. Denazification of Ukraine, the demilitarisation of Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putin reiterated his constant theme of Ukraine as a nation of ultra-nationalists, raising the memory of Stepan Bandera<\/a>. Bandera\u2019s organisation collaborated with the Nazis during the second world war to fight Soviet occupation of Ukraine, and took part in the wholesale murder of Jews and Poles. In the context of renewed Russian aggression, his legacy has become ever more hotly contested<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It has long been a key point of propaganda for Putin \u2013 as has his argument that Ukrainians and Russians are essentially one people<\/a>: \u201cWhat is happening now is an immense tragedy; it is like a civil war between brothers who stand on different sides [of the conflict].\u201d<\/p>\n

Putin also addressed the question of mobilisation, arguing that since so many people were volunteering to fight, another wave of mobilisation would be unnecessary: \u201cThere are 1,500 volunteer fighters being recruited every day throughout the country. So, together with the volunteers there will be about half a million people by the end of this year \u2026 So, what do we need mobilisation for? There is absolutely no need for it today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The economy and sanctions<\/h2>\n

Putin was very bullish about the health of Russia\u2019s economy, with unemployment falling to 3% and real wages apparently growing by 8% after allowing for inflation, which is reportedly running at 7.5%. Many analysts have linked this apparent resurgence in the Russian economy with massive increases in military spending, or \u201cmilitary Keynesianism\u201d<\/a>, which has significantly boosted Russia\u2019s industrial output.<\/p>\n

While admitting that inflation was a problem (Putin apologised to one pensioner for the high price of eggs<\/a>), Putin remarked that economic growth as measured by GDP had rebounded from 2022, when it fell by 2.1% to a positive 3.5% this year, \u201cit means we have recouped the losses and have taken a significant step forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

Putin also made a great deal of what he referred to as \u201csovereignty\u201d. His understanding of the term seems to be Russia\u2019s isolation from the norms of the international system. \u201cFor a country like Russia, existence, mere existence, is impossible without sovereignty. Without sovereignty, Russia would cease to exist, at least in the form it exists today and has existed for a thousand years.\u201d<\/p>\n

International relations<\/h2>\n

As usual the west \u2013 or western elites \u2013 were painted as the source of all international tensions, with European countries (apart from Hungary and Slovakia, which both have pro-Russian governments) painted as Washington\u2019s lapdogs, doing America\u2019s bidding.<\/p>\n

He also accused NATO of going \u201cbeyond the statutory goals of this organisation, the North Atlantic bloc\u201d by turning its focus towards Asia. Russia and China, meanwhile: \u201care not doing anything of the kind. Yes, we are engaged in military, economic and humanitarian cooperation, but we are not creating any blocs\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also linked what he described as the rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism to Russophobia, at times blaming the western media for fomenting anti-Russian sentiment.<\/p>\n

The future<\/h2>\n

As the second anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, many people question whether \u2013 and why \u2013 the Russian people acquiesce to the war in Ukraine. With dissent criminalised, Putin\u2019s approval ratings appear to remain high, according to recent polling by the respected Levada Centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And with almost complete control of the news media in Russia, a new generation of schoolchildren being taught a Kremlin-sanctioned view of history<\/a>, and plans for veterans to train schoolchildren<\/a>, Putin aims to ensure it stays that way.<\/p>\n

Asked what he would say to the Vladimir Putin who came to power in 2000, he said: \u201cI would say: you are on the right track, comrades. What would I warn him against? Against naivety and excessive trust in our so-called partners.\u201d\"The<\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody is a Senior Lecturer in politics and international relations academic at The Open University and specialises in communication, misinformation and security, particularly in Russia. Here she gives her view on Vladimir Putin’s appearance at his annual press conference. Russian television audiences didn\u2019t have much choice but to watch Vladimir Putin\u2019s annual press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":24449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,15],"tags":[240,860,869,1525,1640],"class_list":["post-24444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-social-sciences","category-society-politics","tag-bbc-radio-4","tag-faculty-of-fass","tag-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}