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Transcript/Script
Putin Profile
HEADLINE: Experts: Putin Driven to Restore Russia to Past Glory
TEASER: Experts tell VOA Russian president is focused on restoring his country to superpower status lost when Soviet Union collapsed
PUBLISHED: 4/7/2022 at 8:36 p.m.
BYLINE: Cindy Saine
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE:
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Jepsen, Sharon Shahid
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Saine Skype video interviews, VOA Archive, AP, AFP, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:57
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES: Please note mandatory onscreen credit for the Obama SOT and Mandatory Skype video courtesies))
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[[Russian President Vladimir Putin has upended decades of relative peace and stability in Europe with his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Experts tell VOA he is an ideological leader focused on returning Russia to the superpower status it lost when the Soviet Union collapsed. VOA's senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine has this profile.]]
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1952. In 1975, he joined Russian’s foreign intelligence service, the KGB, and was stationed in Germany before entering politics.
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In late 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin stepped down amid scandal, making Putin acting president in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Putin has held the reins of power in Moscow ever since, winning multiple elections increasingly viewed as rigged, sidestepping term limits and jailing or attempting to kill his main political opponents, as Michael Kimmage of the German Marshall Fund explains.
((Michael Kimmage, German Marshall Fund))
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“There's a long record of journalists and intelligence officers and others who have been murdered. One assumes at the command of Putin, or at least, at the very least, at the command of Putin's underlings.”
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Putin has cultivated a hyper-masculine image of strength and all-knowing authority. This fits in with his ideological leadership style, psychology Professor Samuel Hunter tells VOA, saying this kind of leader looks to the past.
((Samuel Hunter, University of Nebraska at Omaha))
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“So, they will talk about a time when things were better. They will talk about a time to return to if you are to follow me as a leader, then we will return to this era where we have greater influence and power and strength. And so, Putin is a great example of that.”
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Putin wants Russia to be treated like a superpower again, Angela Stent of the Brookings Institution, told VOA.
((Angela Stent, Brookings Institution))
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“And he believes that the rest of the world should treat Russia as if it were the Soviet Union. He doesn't want to restore the Soviet Union, but he wants to be treated as a great power whose views are respected and where people sort of fear Russia, and they accept that Russia has a right to the sphere of influence in its neighborhood.”
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Kimmage agrees.
((Michael Kimmage, German Marshall Fund))
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“I think in his own eyes, he's very much a Russian patriot. So, there is commitment that he has to the Russian past and to Russian greatness that's a motivating force. And certainly the desire for power is a thread — his attraction to the KGB in the first place as a powerful institution.”
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Despite Russia’s relatively weak economy, Putin has engaged in major conflicts around the world and built some strong alliances, which has boosted his popularity at home, Elizabeth Shackelford of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, told VOA.
((Elizabeth Shackelford, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs))
((Mandatory Skype Video Courtesy))
“Well, I mean, I think the biggest thing is that he came in, and he really kind of did restore Russia to being a major player on the world stage after a time when Russia had really been largely sidelined. And he's done this through punching above his weight, right?
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Although he has engaged Russian troops in brutal conflicts, Putin’s launching of a full-scale invasion of his neighbor, Ukraine, has surprised many because of the sheer scale of the risk, including former President Barack Obama.
((Barack Obama, Former President))
((Mandatory on Screen Credit ABC 7 Chicago))
“He was always ruthless. You witnessed what he did in Chechnya. He had no qualms about crushing those who he considered a threat. That's not new. For him to bet the farm in this way, I'm not, I would not have necessarily predicted from him five years ago."
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Experts say that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Putin has been more alone and isolated than ever, appearing to take extreme precautions in meetings shortly before the invasion with some vaccinated and freshly tested world leaders.
Cindy Saine, VOA New
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateApril 7, 2022 22:36 EDT
BylineCindy Saine, VOA News.
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
