How do you account for Mr Putins incredible popularity?
When you look at the leaders Russia has had, Mr Putin measures up to any of them. Russians believe that he is their greatest leaders since Peter the Great, according to a recent poll. Whatever we might think in the West of his rather authoritarian ways, people like his decisive style of leadership. Mr Putin is also popular because he followed Mr Yeltsin, who was drunk for most of his time in power, was extremely unpredictable and surrounded by people who were either incompetent or corrupt. He allowed the oligarchs to run wild and buy up the country’s assets for a fraction of the market value. They look at Mr Putin and see him as sober and capable. He is respected too as a former KGB man, one of the few sources of pride from the former Soviet Russia. Since the financial crisis of 1998, Russia has bounced back incredibly well. The economy is humming and investors are flooding back into the country. They also support his hardline stance on Chechnya. The suicide bombs in Moscow has served
