Putin Strikes a Defiant Note in Palmyra

The writer Peter Pomerantsev has described Russia as a “post-modern dictatorship.” President Vladimir Putin and his friends vividly illustrated that description Thursday when the famed orchestra of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater played a concert at Palmyra, the archaeological site that Russian-backed Syrian troops liberated from the Islamic State in late March.

Not long before the ruins of this once vast city were retaken, Putin had announced a Russian pullback from Syria, claiming that the military mission had been accomplished. Yet Thursday’s concert sent an important message about Russia’s intentions in Syria: It showed Putin claiming credit for Assad’s recent success, demonstrated to the world that his forces had not really withdrawn and signaled that any peace will be made on Russian terms.