Mir Novostei: “An Overdose of Flattery”
Mikhail Nagovitsyn and Margarita Solovyeva
Hardly any other politician is as popular among his people as Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister and former President. The people see him as an unquestionable leader who bravely defends his country; suffice it to mention how staunchly he stood up for Russian interests last week. Few doubt that he is superman and a legendary knight all in one.
It is hard to see why Mr Putin's press service goes to such extremes to prove his worth again and again. Take the tiger show of last weekend, when the Prime Minister visited Vladivostok. He made a detour for the Ussuri Wildlife Reserve, where a drama unfolded as an enraged tigress got out of a trap with a television crew close by. Putin the Superman arrived when suspense had reached its peak, and shot at the beast point-blank with a tranquiliser gun. When the tiger fell asleep, he helped zoologists take her blood test and measure her from head to foot. He then put a GPS collar on her neck, gave her a smooch on the nose, and said goodbye.
Why did Mr Putin's PR people arrange the hunting adventure at all? He doesn't need cheap sensations to keep up his popularity.
