...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...in an apparent attempt to stem a major fall in his approval ratings. The first episode, which aired on Sunday on the Rossiya 1 channel, showed the long-serving leader picking mushrooms in Siberia and in meetings with miners and schoolchildren.
The president already dominates state news bulletins but Rossiya 1’s hour-long show Moscow. Kremlin. Putin provides a new format to showcase his activities.
The previously unannounced show comes as Putin faces a record fall in his approval ratings as a result of a deeply unpopular pension reform that saw thousands of Russians take to the streets in protest.