Russian President Vladimir Putin is ending 2016 on a high, with state polls showing his approval rating at nearly 87 percent—the highest it’s been all year, and only three points off his all-time record. Despite Russia’s financial crisis and controversy abroad, the Russian president continues to be personally the most trusted public official in the country.
However, the more the politics of post-Soviet Russia becomes about its ruler’s personal charm, the more Putin has to be all things to all Russians. In 2016 he went from sporty to sensitive; from commanding to communicative; from grizzled outdoorsman to aureate intellectual. Here …read more
Source: Newsweek
