Putin confirmed as president…again. And again.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was inaugurated today for another six-year term, continuing his presidency into 2030. This marks his fifth term in office. He has effectively become a new czar or a Soviet Premier.
And it seems that is exactly what he wants.
In the spring of 1993, I returned from my first trip to Russia. I was a young journalist at just 25 years old. I grew up on James Bond films and Tom Clancy books and had a preconceived idea of what Russia was like.
Some of it wasn’t far off, but I made friends and was amazed by my experiences. I wrote articles about the trip and shared photos. There was no social media yet, so that was much slower, of course.
At the time, I predicted it would take Russia 25 years to catch up with the west, economically. It really took less than 15, but there were growing pains with crime, corruption, and runaway inflation. Now, it seems like some of Russia has turned its back on that progress and wants to go back to the former glory days — reuniting the Soviet Union.
In 2010, I traveled to Russia for the last time to bring a photo exhibit of photos taken in the 1990s side by side with photos taken in 2018. I also compiled the news stories I wrote over the years and put them together in an ebook of my travels with more than 100 photos and nearly two decades worth of stories.
Because the Soviet Union had just broken up a year and a half before (December 1991) I was asked to do some local interviews as well. I recall a long Sunday morning local TV segment and a radio interview on what was then West Virginia Public Radio — coming full circle, where I work now.
Giles Snyder, now of NPR, conducted the interview. I never actually heard it, and there is no archive of the discussion from more than 30 years ago, but one thing I recall discussing was a song from Sting called Russians. The song was released in 1985 at the height of the Cold War before everything collapsed.
How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy?
There is no monopoly on common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology, regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
I think we all knew at the time that was a rhetorical question. When I traveled to Russia (for the first of seven trips), though, I was overwhelmed by the strength and love you see in Russian homes. I’ve never forgotten that discussion with Giles and that mantra over the last 30+ years.
But now we see Putin’s war in Ukraine and his oppression of the Russian people and democracy. It makes me wonder if Putin has forgotten that everyone loves their children, and they shouldn’t be targets of war and naked aggression.
Descriptions of Putin said he was excited and happy with his latest election. Like the situation was ever in doubt. Or that he had accomplished something other than oppressing his people.
It’s a sad day for both the nation of Ukraine and the people of Russia.
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