At present, Putin mostly communicates only with businessman Kovalchuk, a Russian journalist reports
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Russian journalist and political commentator Mikhail Zigar claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently mostly communicating only with businessman Yuri Kovalchuk.
This is stated in Zigar's column for the American edition of the New York Times.
Several sources in the Kremlin and members of Russia's business elite told Zigar that Putin listened to almost no one and did not communicate in person except Kovalchuk.
Allegedly, in the spring and summer of 2020, in the midst of a global coronavirus pandemic, Putin was sitting in self-isolation at his residence in Valdai.
Zigar says his friend Kovalchuk has been with Putin at the residence all this time.
Kovalchuk found himself among Putin's close friends and advisers in the 1990s. He owns the largest stake in the commercial bank Bank of Russia and controls several state media outlets.
The Russian journalist describes Kovalchuk's worldview as a mixture of hedonism, Orthodox mysticism, and belief in a conspiracy theory about the ubiquitous influence of the United States.
And, according to Zigar, along with Kovalchuk, Putin also plunged into a paranoid fascination with Russia's former greatness and plans to restore it.
Putin's advisers told Zigar that Putin was annoyed by discussions of current economic and pandemic issues, and he was fully immersed in the study of the past.
In support of this thesis, Zigar cites the words of a French diplomat who was informed about Putin's talks with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
It seems that during the talks, Putin gave Macron a long lecture on Russian history, and Macron was puzzled as to how to respond.
"Putin is convinced that he is now in a unique historical position where he can regain what (Russians – ed.) lost in years of bullying and humiliation. In the 1990s, when Putin and Kovalchuk met, it was difficult for both of them to become on their feet after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and this is exactly what the whole country felt: they believe that the West has used Russia's weakness to expand NATO's borders to Russia.
According to Putin, today the situation is quite the opposite: now the West is in a weak position. Until recently, the only Western leader Putin took seriously was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Now she has resigned, and it is time for Russia to take revenge for past bullying in the 1990s," Zigar said.
Zigar insists that no one can shake Putin's faith because he has severed all ties with former friends and close advisers. According to the journalist, even Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, who was once considered a very close friend of Putin, should be quarantined for 2-3 weeks to talk to the Russian president face to face.
The journalist adds that Putin's entourage, for the sake of their own career and enrichment, has convinced him for many years that only he can save Russia. This seems to have influenced Putin's paranoid belief in his own greatness and his willingness to take any steps to restore Russia's greatness.
Zigar's sources say Kovalchuk and Putin don't appear to be intimidated by sanctions and isolation. On the contrary, they believe that the imposition of severe sanctions, Russia's isolation, and the emigration of "unreliable elements" abroad will only strengthen Russia in the future confrontation.
Note
Mikhail Zigar is a Russian journalist, director, and editor-in-chief of the Dozhd TV channel in 2010-2015. He spoke with a wide range of high-ranking Kremlin officials and Russia's business elite and wrote a book, The Whole Kremlin Army, in which he tried to tell the story of Putin's rise to power and details of relations between Kremlin leaders.
