Man from the Security Services: Writer Explained How Putin Usurped Power

Ukrainian writer Yan Valetov stated that Putin’s goal from the very beginning was not progress, but control, and that he would not relinquish power so easily. Over all these years, Russians themselves have grown accustomed to a strong hand, reports Politeka.

He shared this in Valeriy Savchuk’s author program “Different People.”

“I perceived Putin this way from the very start. First of all, I understood that nothing good could come from a man from the security services who rose to this position. The security services have their function. They guard the perimeter to maintain the status quo. Their task is not progress, not change, but to make sure the sheep inside the perimeter perform the required dances,” emphasizes Yan Valetov.

He notes that such a person took the helm of a huge country with great potential, and at that time, oil prices were beginning to rise, there were still flirtations with the West, and then came the Second Russian-Chechen War. According to the writer, all of Putin’s statements from 2002–2008 indicated that he was a man who would not give up power.

“I understood that this would last a long time. In addition, there’s the historical context—I know history fairly well and understand that where power was handed over initially with violations of legality, it will not be surrendered. No one will give it up. Plus, there’s a love for a strong hand. You know, everyone thinks that the strong hand is for someone else, not for me,” explains Yan Valetov.

In the writer’s opinion, this is not genetic but a matter of upbringing: the older generation raised children with the understanding that you could say anything in the kitchen, but not on the street, and this cultivates a “see-don’t-hear” disease, where you see something different from what you hear. However, the guest emphasizes, we have been living freely for over 30 years, and our children are raised this way. In Russia, this was not the case—there, democracy ended before the 2000s.