MOSCOW — With a smile on her lips and a hint of irony in her eyes, one of the organizers tells us, on the sidelines of her stand, that “In view of the presidential election, we need to reinforce the ‘feel good factor’.” Sonia, dynamic and in her 30s, is the epitome of Moscow’s new middle class: educated, multilingual and apolitical.
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“The Kremlin has sent a message to the regions and to businesses to organize positive events,” Sonia says. “That’s what we’re doing here, with our past achievements and future plans.”
Welcome to VDNKh, the Soviet park that’s still known by its acronym that stands for: Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva, or the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy. It opened in 1939 to honor the planned economy, and is now at the heart of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s real-fake campaign for the March 17 presidential election.
Interview set
Without debates, without meetings, President Putin isn’t campaigning. But for weeks now, the vast “Rossia” (“Russia”) exhibition in Moscow has served as a guiding theme. In power for almost a quarter of a century, he enjoys a high approval rating that is real, but largely orchestrated by propaganda.
The VDNKh relays the message by presenting the country’s most diverse achievements over the past 20 years. The official aim, in a huge modern staging with multiple uses of digital and interactive technology, is “to show Russians their modern Russia, a country they can be proud of.”
The décor is state-of-the-art, even avant-garde, with its robots and use of artificial intelligence. But essentially, the goal is the same as in the past, when the park was created to showcase the republics of the Soviet Union.
The theme is clear: President Putin has transformed Russia.
From its inauguration on November 4 and up to the March 17 presidential election, the exhibition has been used as a backdrop for interviews with ministers and regional governors. These have become a regular feature on newscasts and other programs on the Kremlin’s national and local channels, reaching every corner of the country.
Gallery of Achievements
Every day, the same subliminal or direct message is relayed. Putin’s portrait — here and there, on the stands between children’s drawings, charts of economic success and photos of beautiful Russian landscapes — is certainly not omnipresent. But the theme is clear: President Putin has transformed Russia.
After the “Gallery of Achievements” — a long tunnel at the exhibition’s entrance provides a statistical reminder of the millions of square meters of housing built and the tens of thousands of roads laid out “thanks to the State” — visitors can spend hours in the immense hall featuring stands of the “89 subjects of the Federation”. These include all of the country’s regions, as well as territories annexed from Ukraine (from Crimea to Kherson).
Visitors are enthusiastic and the exhibition is an undeniable success, with more 150,000 people attending each day during the vacation season at the start of the year. The audience is even larger, thanks to television and social network relays across Russia.
