5:59 v originále: Ksenia Krimer on cynicism of Putin’s Russia

It came as little surprise that Vladimir Putin was re-elected president of Russia last weekend as he had crushed the opposition during his quarter-century in power. But many Russians protested during the election - and some ended up in jail. Can Putin’s Russia be compared to the Soviet era and its totalitarian practices? And how has Russian society changed under Putin’s rule?

The change of leadership in the Kremlin was not expected. And it did not come when, according to official results, Vladimir Putin won more than 87 per cent of the vote in Russia's presidential election - a record result. There was criticism, particularly from Western countries, that this was more of a spectacle than a democratic election. But Putin has accomplished his mission - he will lead the country for another six years.

„I think for Putin, this is meant to demonstrate control and his ability to obtain whatever result,” says Ksenia Krimer, a Berlin-based Russian historian and research fellow at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History (ZFF) in Potsdam.

For many, Vladimir Putin's triumph at the polls was reminiscent of the Soviet Union. According to Krimer, elections in the USSR were essentially a ritual in which no one doubted the outcome. People went to the polls and confirmed what had already been decided. And some elements of this „ritualised procedure” have survived up to this day, claims Ksenia Krimer.

„You know, the buffet, people show up faking this merriment. They buy some refreshments or pastries at the buffet, there is some entertainment provided. And we see the grotesque forms of this entertainment today,” she points out.

Listen to the full interview with Ksenia Krimer for the 5:59 podcast in the English version:

Rozhovor s českým dabingem si můžete poslechnout zde.

The proximity to some Soviet realities is also evident in the way Russian society has changed under Putin's rule. „All the bad things which were inherent in the Soviet collectivity have become worse,” says Krimer. She explains that she is referring primarily to „cynicism”, but also to „certain criminal aspects, norms and ideas” that she says guided Soviet society in the late stages of the USSR's existence.

But the presidential elections in Russia were accompanied by several acts of dissent. In Moscow, for example, a girl poured black liquid into the ballot box. In St Petersburg, another young woman threw a Molotov cocktail at the wall of a building. According to Ksenia Krimer, these and other incidents are the positive moments.

„These are, of course, acts born out of sheer fury - sheer and distilled fury -and also out of hopelessness, despair. They are almost suicidal because there are CCTVs everywhere, so the identities of these women can be very easily determined,” says the Russian historian.

But Krimer has a different take on the move by her fellow expatriates who have joined the „Noon Against Putin” protest, called for by opposition leader Alexei Navalny before his death in a Russian prison, and which has eventually formed protest lines not only in Russia itself but also outside many Russian embassies abroad. But for Ksenia Krimer, the participation of Russian expatriates is „meaningless” and „empty”. She says it lends legitimacy to the elections.

„Why do you show up to those places of legitimacy that are not legitimate - the Russian embassies? Why do you stand under this flag? For me, I was really angry and embarrassed. And I think this is an expression of a lack of vision, a lack of political imagination and a ‚feel good action‘,” says Krimer.

How important is the fear of repression as a component of life in Russia? And how is Vladimir Putin reinforcing the nation's sense of superiority? Listen to the audio at the top of the article.