It’s not just China: Russia has a princeling problem, and they’ve put Putin in an awkward spot
Vladimir Putin has a knack for reading the Russian people's mood, yet for a brief moment on Thursday, when asked about alleged privileges enjoyed by the offspring of his associates, he found himself at odds with popular sentiment.
It’s not just China. Russia has a princeling problem too, and it gave President Valdimir Putin and uncharacteristically awkward moment at his annual press conference.
Putin has a knack for reading the Russian people's mood, yet for a brief moment on Thursday, when asked about alleged privileges enjoyed by the offspring of his associates, he found himself at odds with popular sentiment.
Putin was giving his annual news conference - a platform to show off his commanding presence and folksy wisdom - when a reporter said a generation of privileged Russians could act with impunity because their parents were part of Putin's circle.
“When you came to power in 2000, is this the sort of result you expected?” the reporter, Yekaterina Vinokurova, asked Putin. “Maybe there are some things that should be corrected, maybe it's not yet too late?”
The comment from Vinokurova, who works not for a major media outlet but an online publication based in Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg, elicited applause from the audience, unusual for an event attended by large numbers of journalists sympathetic to Putin.
After waiting for the clapping to end, Putin replied that if anyone was guilty of corruption, it was up to the legal system to investigate and that people's careers could not be ended on the basis of unproven allegations.