Putin
Moscow's longtime leader
Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia, serving multiple terms since 1999 and consolidating authoritarian control over Russian politics.
His name appears in discussions of geopolitics, election interference, and military aggression: Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
To pull a Putin suggests authoritarian tactics or manipulating rules to retain power indefinitely.
Moscow's fortified government seat
- MoscowRussia's capital city
- RussianEastern Slavic language
- SovietOf the USSR
- KGBUSSR intelligence service
oligarchs · Medvedev · Chechnya · Sochi · St. Petersburg · rubles · Siberia · federation
Punitive international restrictions
- CrimeaBlack Sea peninsula
- annexationAbsorbing territory into jurisdiction
- UkraineEastern European sovereign state
- invasionForcible entry into territory
NATO · expansion · Cold War · superpower · Syria · interference · cyberattacks · hybrid warfare
Powerful lifter or despot
- autocratSole wielder of power
- dictatorRuler with total control
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
propaganda · opposition · crackdown · dissent · Navalny · assassination · exile · imprisonment
Japanese throwing discipline
- black beltMartial arts mastery level
- shirtlessWithout upper garment
- machoOverly masculine manner
- horsebackAtop a steed
tiger · hockey · action hero · martial arts · tough guy · stoic · calculated · intelligence
Elected leader of nation
- prime ministerLeader of a parliamentary state
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- termFixed period or word
- reelectionVoting someone back in
succession · consolidation · centralization · cult of personality · approval ratings · tenure · constitutional · mandate
Kremlin
Moscow's fortified government seat
KGB · oligarchs · Medvedev · Chechnya · Sochi · St. Petersburg · rubles · Siberia · federation · Duma
sanctions
Punitive international restrictions
- CrimeaBlack Sea peninsula
- annexationAbsorbing territory into jurisdiction
- UkraineEastern European sovereign state
invasion · NATO · expansion · Cold War · superpower · Syria · interference · cyberattacks · hybrid warfare · disinformation
strongman
Powerful lifter or despot
- autocratSole wielder of power
- dictatorRuler with total control
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
censorship · propaganda · opposition · crackdown · dissent · Navalny · assassination · exile · imprisonment · surveillance
judo
Japanese throwing discipline
- black beltMartial arts mastery level
- shirtlessWithout upper garment
- machoOverly masculine manner
horseback · tiger · hockey · action hero · martial arts · tough guy · stoic · calculated · intelligence · strategist
president
Elected leader of nation
- prime ministerLeader of a parliamentary state
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- termFixed period or word
reelection · succession · consolidation · centralization · cult of personality · approval ratings · tenure · constitutional · mandate · inner circle
- World LeadersChurchill, Winston Churchill, Eisenhower, Gorbachev, Thatcher
- Russian HistorySoviet Union, tsars, Tsarist Russia, Romanov, czars
- Eastern European FiguresDostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pushkin, Copernicus
- Political LeadersJoseph Stalin, Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Lenin, Mao Zedong
- Post-Soviet FiguresYeltsin, Gorbachev, Lukashenko, Medvedev, Zelensky
- Russian GovernmentKremlin, Duma, presidential administration, governors, ministers
PutinGandhi
Indian independence leader
Dalai Lama · peacemaker · Mandela · Mahatma Gandhi · Martin Luther King Jr.
PutinNavalny
Alexei Navalny · open government · Garry Kasparov · Kasparov · dissident
- Vladimir PutinRussian strongman today