The annual show called «President of Russia Vladimir Putin’s communication with journalists» went on as usual. Russians learned some interesting things: taxes are being raised because the treasury is full (budget surplus), and the retirement age is being raised because life expectancy is increasing. In other words, in Russia, unlike in France, there are no reasons for unrest.
The French government deliberately raised the prices of diesel and gasoline, while in Russia, according to Putin, they are rising on their own, despite the government’s efforts to prevent it. It is unlikely that another intimidation of the world with nuclear war in the typical Putin style can be considered interesting. In particular, in threatening to develop Russian nuclear weapons in response to the development of American ones, Putin added: «Don’t whine later that we have some advantages. Perhaps this was meant to frighten or surprise someone in the world, but it is unlikely to have that effect because these nuclear threats have become so regular that everyone has long since gotten used to them.
For us, the most interesting part of this program was Putin’s answers to questions about the murders of our fellow believers — the Gasangusenov brothers in Dagestan and Orkhan Dzhemal as part of a group of journalists in the Central African Republic. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the first two were killed by Russian security forces, as they themselves admitted at first, until they decided to blame the murders on unknown persons. The murder of Orkhan, may Allah have mercy on him, is a similar story — not only was he killed himself while investigating the activities of Russian private military companies in the Central African Republic, but several people who were investigating his murder in Russia were almost killed. However, according to Putin, «according to the information available today, some local groups (!) attempted the assassination». No doubt local «volunteers» who bought weapons at a local «military store».
By the way, speaking of «volunteers» and «military stores». They were also mentioned at this meeting, specifically the Wagner PMC, which is accused of committing military crimes in many parts of the world. Putin’s answer to this question was quite clear: «If they violate something, the Prosecutor General’s Office should make a legal assessment; if not, they have the right to work and promote their business interests anywhere on the planet. That’s what they do — they promote, knowing that they can count on the full understanding of the country’s leadership regarding «their» business interests. After all, as we know, it stands firmly for domestic business, and domestic manufacturers will attest to that.
As for the murder of the Gasangusenov brothers, whose case reached the European Court of Human Rights, Putin’s response was absolutely traditional and predictable: «Honestly, this is the first time I’ve heard about it, but I promise to pay attention to it, and Bastykin will be given such a task. In general, they will investigate — just as they did with the murder of journalists in the CAR and the activities of the Wagner PMC.
And so, once again, the show of the «national leader» went on in this style. Almost four hours of manipulation, blatant mockery of common sense, cynicism, periodic threats and vulgar jokes.