Member-only story
For more than twenty years, Vladimir Putin, the mysterious leader of Russia, has been the center of attention around the world. Some people look up to him, while others hate him. His image is surrounded by myths that shape how people see him. Many of these myths mix fact and fiction, making it hard to get a clear picture of his leadership and its effects. Many people have false ideas about Vladimir Putin. Here are five of those ideas and the truths behind them.
1. Putin brought the Russian economy back to life all by himself
In the unstable years after the fall of the Soviet Union, many people say that Vladimir Putin saved Russia’s economy from going bankrupt. Even though Russia did grow a lot in his first few years in office, this growth was mostly due to higher oil prices around the world, not to new economic policies. Russia’s huge oil and gas reserves brought in a lot of money, which the government used to pay off bills, fund public projects, and keep the currency stable.
But changes started by Boris Yeltsin during his presidency are what made the economy stable in the first place. Policies like privatization and liberalization set the stage for recovery, even though they caused chaos at first. Some people say that Putin’s reliance on energy exports caused a “resource curse” that made Russia’s economy too vulnerable to changes in commodity prices. After Russia…
