The sentiment is far from unique. A glance at popular Russian women’s magazines such as Spletnik, Gossiper, and Symbol reveals nothing about women knitting socks for the front. Instead, their pages are full of stories about the lifestyles of the elite, celebrities, the British royalty, and social scandals in Moscow. Even Gennady Zyuganov, the 81-year-old leader of the traditionally loyalist Communist Party, who has a following of elderly people nostalgic for the Soviet Union, has joined the criticism. Speaking from the floor of Parliament on Apr. 21, he complained that the entire economy has sunk “to the bottom.”
Considering these economic anxieties, allocating nearly one-third of the state budget to defense might seem like insanity. But not in Putin’s mindset. He doesn’t see himself as one of the few authoritarian leaders clinging to power on the edge of Europe. He sees himself as standing at the center of world events, a position made possible, in his view, by his military spending.
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