The Kremlin has been slow to react to the split in Russian society and among its propagandists caused by Khabib Nurmagomedov’s victory over Conor McGregor in the UFC mixed martial arts world championship fight.
It is worth remembering that before the fight Putin met with Conor, not Khabib, and his propagandists poured heaps of abuse on the latter. However, after Khabib’s victory, which made him a hero to millions of Caucasians and other Muslim Russians (and many Russians actually supported him), Kremlin propagandists began to change the tone of their coverage of the fight, despite fierce opposition from their colleagues.
Apparently, the Kremlin decided to somehow smooth over such an obvious split in society along national and religious lines. The «national leader» himself decided to meet with the already victorious fighter, who had become a hero to millions of Muslims (and others) in Russia. However, he could not think of anything more clever than to present the victory of the Dagestani fighter as his own, once again showing the world that he is ready to «jump» on anyone.
«If we are attacked from the outside, I am sure we can all jump so high that it will be unbelievable,» declared the leader of one of the world’s largest nuclear powers. He clearly fails to understand that, unlike mixed martial arts fighters, the job of the president of a country is not to «jump» at the rest of the world, which is all he seems to be doing lately, but to take care of his citizens.
Now, as for attacks, the first step should be to order his lapdogs not to attack their fellow Russians — athletes and others — just because they adhere to Islamic values and practice the religion of the country’s indigenous peoples. But of course this will never happen.