Feigin: Strange Things Are Happening To Putin

• 21.01.2023, 9:33

The head of the Russian Federation is losing control over his entourage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's suggestion that Kremlin head Vladimir Putin might be dead and instead presented to the public with a doppelgänger should be seen as trolling. Putin definitely has doubles, but they are used as “operational understudies” when the “president of the Russian Federation” has to get off the plane, sit in the car, and so on. However, strange things have indeed been happening to Putin lately.

So, he almost completely isolated himself. Sitting in a bunker, the dictator prefers a virtual way of communication, and he himself has actually turned into a semi-virtual figure. As for his entourage, there are signs that Putin is losing control over them. This opinion was expressed by Russian human rights activist Mark Feigin in an exclusive interview with obozrevatel.com.

— President Zelensky hinted that Putin may already be dead, and the person who is being presented as Putin is actually his doppelgänger. Earlier, General Budanov also spoke about Putin's doubles. Is such a situation really possible?

— Still, I believe this to be trolling by President Zelensky. We must give him credit — in this he is a great master. I proceed from the fact that there is more trolling than actually confirmed information.

Even assuming that there is no such thing as Putin, the test is not the appearance of his public avatar. How can you tell if it's a twin or not?

But I do not believe in the theory that there are doubles of Putin who replace him publicly. I believe that there are doubles for sure, but, as in Soviet practice, they play the role of an operational understudy when you need to get off the plane, take protocol shooting in different places against the background of some objects, and sit in the car. But the voice, mimic features and everything else — they cannot be repeated.

I think that this trolling is appropriate. This is war, all means are good. The Kremlin says that Zelensky is a Nazi. They have their own trolling.

I still think that public Putin is the same Putin who was there ten and twenty years ago. When he speaks, when he communicates with someone. But the things that happen to Putin are strange. And all these rumors that maybe Putin is not alive are connected with the fact that he is completely isolated.

Putin has been transferred to the category of a phantom — deliberately by Putin himself and his entourage. It is clear that such versions will always exist, and their influence will even increase. Because he doesn't really see anyone. He sits in the bunker and does everything through a conference call. Therefore, why be surprised that such rumors can have convincing grounds.

Because there is no real Putin. He exists as a semi-virtual figure.

— In this case, will it be possible to hide the death of Putin?

— If Putin dies, then so many people, even in his entourage, will be interested in this truth being known, that those who are interested in the opposite will not be able to keep it. In the modern digital world, this is the situation.

Yes, for someone who understands that with the death of Putin the entire pyramid of power will collapse, it may be beneficial for Kovalchuk or Patrushev to hide this and convince everyone that Putin is in the country, in a bunker or somewhere else, and we are driving instead of him.

But those who are vitally interested in Putin's death, so that all this hassle stops and they live their own lives, certainly exist. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to hide such information, to make everyone believe in the mythological Putin.

– Do you think that Putin today is completely, one hundred percent, in control of the situation in Russia and is personally responsible for all decisions made in this country?

— Depending on how you understand this control. For example, is it acceptable that within his system of power one hand fights with the other? You see what is happening between the Ministry of Defense and the Wagner PMC, between Prigozhin and the presidential administration and other members of his system of power, his regime.

They have always been at enmity, it did not start yesterday. But now they are at enmity and sort things out in public, they verbally abuse each other. I understand that against the backdrop of the war, everything is aggravated, emotionally.

But still, Putin of the early 2010s had more control from this point of view. They tried to avoid public insults. If something came out, it was quickly extinguished. And now there are many fault lines, and they are strengthening.

Previously, the main trigger was Kadyrov, now such a figure is Prigozhin, I would say, a free radical. If Putin were in complete control of the situation, would he not try to hide all these conflicts — against the backdrop of war and other problems, unity of command, hierarchy and so on? After all, not only he is watching this, but the whole country, the whole West, and Ukraine.

But the conflict only gets worse.

Therefore, control, at least in certain issues, may no longer be complete. Perhaps Putin can no longer extinguish this conflict. He tells them — stop — but they do not comply. Peskov commented on this, they say, this is stuffing into the information space. Excuse me, but the press service of Prigozhin's Concorde is now pouring mud on the presidential administration every day. Is it sanctioned or is it some kind of game? This leads to a clear imbalance of the system.

However, Putin is responsible for everything, for a war in which people die. This is the constitution, this is the law, he is personally responsible for everything. A rocket exploded in Dnipro — is it some John Doe responsible for this, not him?

All responsibility lies on Putin. But as for management and control, there are some nuances here.