When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Russia

From Rat To Bear To Rabbit: How Russians See Putin In The Animal Kingdom

As the ruble nosedives and Russia chokes on Western sanctions, the president --once compared to a bear or bull -- now looks smaller to his countrymen in an unusual recurring survey.

Vladimir Putin and his labrador Koni
Vladimir Putin and his labrador Koni
Wacław Radziwinowicz

MOSCOW — The impressive popularity of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his home country seems to be taking on a new, um, face. A recent survey by a famous Russian sociologist revealed that Putin, often described by citizens and Russian media alike as "the Russian bear," has recently been evoking smaller species, no doubt because of the country's latest economic and political difficulties, experts say.

Over his lifetime, the Russian president has undergone an interesting sort of zoological evolution, representing a different animal during each stage of his political career.

As a KGB officer in Dresden, he was nicknamed Кrysionok or "small rat." After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Putin returned to his native St. Petersburg, where he entered the city's administration service. It was then that his colleagues nicknamed him "mole" because, as the legend goes, he was once caught in his lover's closet by the woman's husband.

The fall of 1999 saw him as the prime minister who was preparing to pounce on the president's office. Though Russian satirists nicknamed the Kremlin grey eminence the "ugly duckling," the power of the office did wonders for his metamorphosis as a virile, breathtaking leader, especially among Russian women.

In several sociological surveys asking respondents to match Putin with an animal, Russians have cited the eagle, lion, tiger and bear. Among female respondents, bull has been a common choice over the years.

[rebelmouse-image 27088495 alt="""" original_size="800x533" expand=1]

The eyes of the tiger? — Photo: thierry ehrmann

Bear seems to be the president's favorite, and he often compares Russia to the mighty predator that "will not give up on his taiga." Putin brought up this allegory during his three-hour press conference in October 2014. Referring to what was then the latest geopolitical situation, he warned that mother taiga saw other predators invading its territory. The unwanted intruders, he noted, would like to pull the bear's teeth and claws.

But even the Kremlin's greatest supporters can't ignore the fact that the country has hit troubled waters. As the ruble nosedives and its enemies strangle Russia with sanctions, Russians are starting to think of Putin in less grandiose ways. The most recent survey conducted by the Moscow-based think tank Center for Strategic Research showed that Russians associate Putin these days with the wolf, lynx, fox or even the rabbit.

Though the Russian president's popularity is at 80%, it is fueled primarily by the lack of alternatives. Asked in the latest survey to justify their support for Putin, people tended to write, "If not him, then who?" It is a significantly different result than those in previous years when people tended to enumerate Putin's strengths.

Whereas the vast majority or Russians accept and support the country's international politics, many are unhappy with the state of domestic affairs. Many respondents said they didn't believe what they saw on pro-government channels. The strategy of official propaganda no longer delivers.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Economy

France, Portrait Of A Nation In Denial — In Our World In Denial

The continuous increase of public debt and a tone-deaf president in France, the rise of authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the world, the blindness to global warming: realities that we do not want to see and that will end up destroying us if we do not act.

Photo of ​police forces in riot gear clashing with demonstrators as piles of garbage burn in Paris on March 23

Police forces clashing with demonstrators as piles of garbage burn in Paris on March 23

Les Echos

-Analysis-

PARIS — In France, the denial of reality seems to be the only thing that all of our public figures have in common: The president (who is right to say that it is his role to propose unpopular measures) refuses to see that other solutions than his own were possible and that institutions will not be sufficient in the long term to legitimize his solitary decisions.

The parliamentary opposition groups refuse to see that they do not constitute a political majority, since they would be incapable of governing together and that they have in common, for too many of them, on both sides of the political spectrum, left and right, only the hatred of money, the mistrust of success, and the contempt for excellence.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

The latest