The Putin 'Brand' Has Taken a Beating This Year

To be sure, 2020 hasn’t turned out as planned for any of us. But then, few of us had plans as large as those of Vladimir Putin. In March, a neatly choreographed moment of political spontaneity in parliament had put the Russian leader on track to achieve his ultimate goal, eliminating the term limits of his presidency and allowing him to rule, more or less, as Czar of All the Russias for life. Only the formalities remained: a referendum in April for the public’s stamp of approval, and then, to cement his status, a parade of parades to commemorate 75 years since the triumph over the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War.

And then it all fell apart under the onslaught from an implacable enemy 0.06 microns large. Is it any wonder that, initially it seemed, Putin couldn’t even admit the problem? By late March, with 350,000 cases of coronavirus diagnosed around the world, Putin insisted he had it “under control,” and that only 438 Russians had been stricken. From someone so skilled at disinformation, this lacked even the subtlety of China’s ham-fisted coverup — it was simply a childish refusal to acknowledge reality.