Russians have started voting in their upcoming presidential election but there's very little doubt about who will win oh yes Vladimir Putin will win the election easily uh yes uh without a shade of a doubt he's going to win not only are there no real competitors on the ballot uh but there are also uh no real uh adversaries of Vladimir Putin.
Left now in Russia a former TV journalist has been barred from challenging president presid Putin flaws in his paperwork meant his name could not appear on the ballot for next month's election just this morning Russian State media is reporting Alexi naali has died in the four presidential elections.
That Vladimir Putin has contested no one has come close to defeating him during his 25 years in power Putin has surrounded himself with a wall of loyal followers that keep him in power and shield him from challenges the system requires uh basically one thing unswerving loyalty to Putin um and second an.
Unwillingness to rock the boat so how did Putin get such a tight grip on Russia the Soviet Union has collapsed 1991 marked the end of the Soviet Union the Soviet Union has ended not with a bang but a whimper the Soviet Union was established after Russia had a revolution and abolished its monarchy then a Civil War which redrew its.
Borders with some of Russia's closest Neighbors coming under the control of this new system of government after almost 70 years as a communist state Russia held its first democratic election and Boris yelton became its first president we can be firmly confident Russia will be reborn very quickly Russia's economy.
Crumbled and inflation Rose by 2500 between 1992 and 1993 people's entire life savings became worthless nobody had the faintest idea about things like inflation Unemployment uh pyramid schemes Russians were extremely naive business in the Soviet Union was.
Owned and controlled by the government but when it collapsed they transitioned into a free market with privately owned companies the way these companies were divided up though was a disaster corruption was rampant and Major Oil infrastructure and energy companies fell into the hands of a few by 1996 about half of Russia's entire.
Economy was owned by just seven very wealthy people who became known as the oligarchs life in Russia at the time was hard organized crime known as the mafoo had a lot of control it was just physical unsafe for ordinary people you know to send their kids to school and then guessing will they come back intact or not it was uh pretty bad in 1999.
There was a poll taken of grade 10 school children in Moscow and the question was what you what do you want to be when you grow up um and eight out of 10 boys said uh members of the mafia and there was a real sense of Gloom around Russia's Prospect going forward Boris yelton quickly became very unpopular and on the world stage.
Russians saw him as an embarrassment yon was an alcoholic he could barely function in the late 1990s had Quint Apple bipods there were you know numerous uh numerous videos of him um talking to foreign leaders when he was just completely off his face so Boris hson is the second most hated and reviled leader in Russia's modern.
History with his popularity dipping yelton lent on the oligarchs to keep him in power giving them more and more political pull but waiting in the wings was a former KGB agent hoping to be leader Putin was working for the Soviet secret police known as the KGB before the Soviet Union collapsed.
Years later he described this as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century all of a sudden millions of people he saw as Russians were stuck outside of Russian borders it was a real tragedy for them because they experienced discrimination and from all sorts of Oppression they.
Were economically disadvantage that Putin had a swift rise to power in 1994 he became deputy mayor of St Petersburg making connections with organized crime and the oligarchs then in 1998 he was appointed as the head of the FSB Russia's successor of the KGB and it's here that people started to take notice and that's an interesting role because.
It was widely seen by Russians as the place where the next president would be nominated around this time Boris yelton's public approval rating had dropped to less than 10% with some estimates as low as 2 % with the writing on the wall yelton prepared for his departure in 1999 Putin was appointed as prime minister and.
Deals were said to be struck between him and yelton so Putin promised Boris yelton that there'll be complete immunity to prosecution to Boris yelson and importantly members of his family were involved in all sorts of dogy deals with theirs during a speech on New Year's Eve of 199 9 yelton resigned and per the.
Constitution prime minister Putin became president Boris yelton handed Russia's future to a shadowy former spy named Vladimir Putin still relatively unknown to the Russian public President Putin wanted to prove he was a strong leader and many believed first on his list was Cheta Chia was a region of Russia that.
For much of the 1990s wanted to be independent state after dozens of terrorist attacks by chin militants Russia first went to war with cnia in 1996 but lost Russia sustained defeat at the hands of uh Rebels Boris yson had to seek terms with the leadership of uh cha when Putin came to power many say he came with a plan to crush Chia within.
Hours of Putin's appointment as acting president he flew straight to Chia in 1999 apartments in Moscow were bombed killing more than 300 people while there is speculation about who was responsible Putin blamed chin Rebels leading to the second chin War the long awaited assault is underway Russia won and Putin's popularity rose.
It was very much uh part of his story's narrative Journey if you like um towards embedding himself as a as a strong man and and a strong man worthy of respect then came the oligarchs seeing how much political influence the oligarchs had under yelton Putin was Keen to push them out Putin frankly did a deal with the oligarchs where he said you can continue.
Making money but you stay out of politics because they were you know in a sense perhaps his biggest Potential Threat oligarchs that swore loyalty to Putin remained safe while others that spoke out against him were dealt with a an ER before he brought into oil hovsky is among the so-called oligarchs M kovski who openly criticized Putin was.
Sent to joil for 11 years for tax crime and his major Energy company was broken up very quickly the oligarchs were out of politics finally on Putin's agenda was gaining control of the media the laws are very often broken by the people who are supposed to enforce them most private owned media companies and.
Newsrooms were taken over by the government journalists within Russia that were critical of Putin found themselves at risk of jail time and digital media wasn't free from restriction either Putin and the Kremlin have fought back against that by you know constraining access to Twitter trying to ensure that all Russians are.
On telegram um and and getting their news from official sources so it's estimated that still about 80% of Russians get their news from TV while yelton's Russia was about decentralization and giving more power to Russia's regions Putin's Russia was the opposite Russia's 89 regions were.
Transformed into seven Federal districts each with Representatives appointed by Putin himself the government took control of the energy industry and moved the FSB under his power and expanded their responsibilities it was all about without giving more power to the Kremlin to resist any challenges it faced it's.
Often said that Putin's favorite word is control which is simply control uh being being able to uh to to be at the the center of decisions and being able to uh control who knows what uh and uh and who can act under Putin life has unquestionably gotten better for a majority of Russians from 2000 to 2008 Russia's GDP grew by an a a of 7% every.
Year while the average Russian's disposable income doubled Putin's leadership was a stark contrast to yelton so Russians came to associate um democracy with poverty and democracy with hardship which is why Putin could be the strong man that uh that many Russians craved Putin projects the image of a strong leader and the so-called.
Really behind the flag effect throughout his Reign Putin alongside the state contr controlled media has crafted an image that many Russians rever but his leadership has faced its challenges there were massive protests in Russia that very nearly I wouldn't say uncited Putin but very nearly destroyed his.
Credibility uh the first one was in 2005 and the most recent one was in 2018 these protests were about welfare payments in Russia but what they showed was that Putin does have to keep Russians on his side and remain popular to stay in power challenges by individuals on the other hand are often dealt with differently popular and.
Outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin shot in the back Bice nof gone down just Steps From the Kremlin in 2006 Alexa naani started a Blog where he exposed corruption in the Russian government and throughout the 2010s he gained popularity as an opponent to Putin before he was poisoned in 2020 then thrown in jail where he died last.
Month make no mistake Putin is responsible for naval's death Putin is responsible what the Russians appreciated about Naval was one particular aspect of his activity and this is his exposure of corruption but I don't think he ever really stood the chance of becoming Russian leader the most recent challenge to Putin's.
Leadership came from his inner circle when private military leader Yi progan and his troops started driving in tanks toward Moscow to seemingly confront Putin they weren't really opposed you know there were no Russian army units or very few attempted to stop them Putin's own uh guard didn't try and stop them he he really didn't seem to know how to.
Handle this and then again no surprise that prosan died in a mysterious plane accident fairly soon after according to experts it is very unlikely that Putin will lose his grip on power any time soon and while some people have questioned the legitimacy of the Russian elections very few think it will have an.
Impact on his leadership I expect him to leave the Kremlin in a box Putin has created a system whereby everybody below him fights for influence and fights for Prestige uh but that Putin is is is the center of Russia political gravity ultimately I think Putin dies in office.
