From the BZ editorial team
It was a performance like a bad Russian joke!
In the 1990s, the whole world laughed at Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s heavily intoxicated speeches. Now the Kremlin dictator and warmonger Vladimir Putin (70) is making fun of him – because of a speech like he’s drunk!
A much-shared, recent video is circulating on Twitter, showing Putin in a state hall in the Kremlin. The Russian despot looks dazed, bounces from one foot to the other, seems to have no control over his (otherwise frozen) facial expressions. In hand: a champagne glass filled with champagne-like liquid.
The speech: bizarre confusion of lies!
Alleged fake news should not “prevent Russia from fulfilling our obligation to our people”. Meaning: the brutal war against Ukraine. You have to “understand what is really happening,” says Putin.
There is “a lot of excitement about our strikes on energy infrastructure in a neighboring country,” the warmonger continues. And freely admits to carrying out the targeted attacks that are leaving millions of Ukrainians without water, electricity and heating.
“Yes, we do that,” Putin explains with an unusually confused look and asks like a schoolboy: “But who started it?”
He then fires off several questions designed to substantiate his absurd claim that Ukraine is responsible for Russia’s missile attacks on energy infrastructure. “Who attacked the Crimean bridge?” And: “Who does not deliver water to Donetsk?”
The fact is: Russian cold terror is not retaliation for Ukrainian attacks. Russia is trying to bring Ukraine, which invaded it in February, to its knees in the winter it makes the lives of millions of Ukrainians unbearable.
Experts: Putin is drunk
Observers were surprised and amused by the dictator’s confused appearance, who likes to present himself as a serious statesman.
▶︎ Swedish economist and Putin expert Anders Aslund wrote on Twitter: “This is the first time I’ve seen Putin drunk in any context. He’s talking nonsense as usual, but he seems to realize that he’s a failure. Very interesting and promising. All Russians will see that he is drunk and weak.”
︎ Publicist and Ukraine expert Euan MacDonald stated that Putin was “clearly drunk” and “confused his propaganda lies”. Namely: “It’s supposed to be Crimea that doesn’t get any water from Ukraine – not Donetsk.”
Unlike Yeltsin, Putin is not considered a drinker and certainly not an alcoholic. Although he shouldn’t be completely abstinent and occasionally treat himself to a beer or a few glasses of vodka, Putin has always endeavored to maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible on the outside.
The war defeats seem to have thrown the dictator completely upside down…