Putin reaches 25 years in charge of Russia, but has he ‘taken care’ of country, asks Steve Rosenberg | Global News Avenue

I will never forget New Year’s Eve in 1999.

I was working as a producer at the BBC’s Moscow bureau. Suddenly, explosive news came: Russian President Yeltsin stepped down.

His decision to resign surprised everyone, including the British press corps in Moscow. There were no reporters in the office when the news broke. This meant I had to step in to write and broadcast my first BBC newsletter.

“Boris Yeltsin always said he would serve out his entire term,” I wrote. “Today he told the Russians that he had changed his mind.”

This was the beginning of my career as a journalist.

Vladimir Putin’s beginnings as leader of Russia.

After Yeltsin resigned, Prime Minister Putin became Acting President in accordance with the Russian Constitution. Three months later he won the election.

As he left the Kremlin, Yeltsin’s parting instructions to Putin were: “Take care of Russia!”

The closer we get to three years of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the more I think of these words of Yeltsin.

This is because of the devastating consequences of President Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Targeting mainly Ukraine, the country’s cities suffered massive destruction and casualties. Nearly 20% of the territory was occupied and 10 million citizens were displaced.

But the same is true for Russia:

I have been covering Putin since he came to power twenty-five years ago.

Who would have thought on December 31, 1999, that Russia’s new leader would still be in power twenty and a half years later? Or will Russia today wage war on Ukraine and confront the West?

I often wonder whether the course of history would have been dramatically different if Yeltsin had chosen someone else to succeed him. Of course, this question is academic. History is full of ifs, buts and maybes.

I can say one thing for sure: I have seen different Putins in twenty-five years.

And I’m not the only one.

Former NATO chief Lord Robertson told me in 2023: “The Putin I met, who I did good business with, who established the NATO-Russia Council, is very, very different from the current Putin who is almost a megalomaniac.”

“The same person who stood next to me in May 2002, right next to me, who said that Ukraine was a sovereign, independent nation-state that would make its own decisions on security issues, is now saying that (Ukraine) is not a nation-state. .

“I think Vladimir Putin is thin-skinned and has huge ambitions for his country. The Soviet Union is considered the second superpower in the world. Russia cannot make any demands in this direction. I think this weakens Russia’s Strength.” His ego. “

Here’s one possible explanation for the changes we’re seeing in Putin: His burning ambition to “make Russia great again” (and make up for what many see as Moscow’s failures in the Cold War) makes it inevitable that a conflict with Russia conflict. its neighbors—and the West.

The Kremlin has a different explanation.

Judging from his speeches and comments, Putin appears to be motivated by resentment, an overarching feeling that Russia has been lied to and disrespected for years and that its security concerns were ignored by the West.

But does Putin himself think that he has fulfilled Yeltsin’s request to “take care of Russia”?

I recently had the opportunity to find out.

More than four hours into a long end-of-year press conference, Putin invited me to ask questions.

“Boris Yeltsin told you to take care of Russia,” I reminded the president. “But what about heavy losses in your so-called ‘special military operations’, Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, sanctions, high inflation? Do you think you’re taking care of your country?”

“Yes,” President Putin replied. “I’ve not just solved this problem. We’ve pulled ourselves back from the brink of the abyss.”

He portrayed Russia under Yeltsin as a country that was losing its sovereignty. He accused the West of “patting condescendingly” Yeltsin on the shoulder while “using Russia to achieve its own ends.” But he said Putin was “doing everything” to “ensure that Russia becomes an independent, sovereign country.”

Portraying himself as a defender of Russian sovereignty: was this a point he made retrospectively, trying to justify the war in Ukraine? Or does Putin really believe this view of modern Russian history?

I’m still not sure. not yet. But I feel like this is a critical issue.

The answer to this question is likely to influence how the war ends and Russia’s future direction.