Skip to main content
  • Share to or
like it or not

Well it's Inauguration Day in Russia, again The Twitters and the Facebooks react to Putin's latest ‘return to power’

Source: Meduza

Well it's Inauguration Day in Russia, again, and that must mean we're at the Grand Kremlin Palace waiting for the six-year forecast from the world's most famous Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who's just about to tell us how much more winter we can expect. This being the fourth time Russians have watched Putin's inauguration, many on social media scrutinized the little things, like Natalia Poklonskaya's apparent fatigue, a bit of last-minute housekeeping on the presidential rug, and the fanciest guest to attend the ceremony: Steven Seagal.

Graffiti by the art group “Yav” (Reality) dedicated to Vladimir Putin's fourth inauguration, referring to the 1991 failed Soviet coup, when television stations broadcast “Swan Lake” on loop as Mikhail Gorbachev was placed under house arrest and tanks rolled into Moscow.
“I don't know why Muscovites complain about traffic. Here's Novyi Arbat at the middle of the day, and it's open roads.”
“There's no getting near the Kremlin. The walkways are closed off. There are police and national guardsmen everywhere. Sailing along the river, there's a solitary patrol boat...”
“Here's a funny moment: the guests have already arrived, but Putin hasn't entered yet because they need to vacuum the carpet.”
“[Former Crimean Attorney General and current State Duma deputy] Natalia Poklonskaya's mood.”
Alexey Navalny mocks Poklonskaya's infamous infatuation with Russia's last tsar: “You won't find a better inauguration photo than this one: ‘She waited for Nikolai II, but he never showed up.’”
“When you want to start drinking, but big poppa hasn't said his toast yet.”
“They just said on Channel One that Putin led an aggressive campaign with trips all around the country, and this is what secured his victory. And so he invited the whole campaign staff to his inauguration ceremony. NOW THAT'S NEWS.”
When Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin started the ceremony, his pronunciation of the phrase “entrance to office” (поступление в должность) sounded to many like “crime in office” (преступление в должность): “A crime in office!” That's what the first words of the inauguration sounded like!”

During his inauguration speech, Putin uttered the phrases “bureaucratic dead weight” (бюрократическая мертвечина) and “deep conservatism” (дремучее охранительство), referring to self-styled patriots who he says stand in the way of progress and Russia's needed “breakthroughs.”

Former pro-Kremlin youth spokesperson Kristina Potupchik mocked the presence of pro-Putin biker gang leader Alexander Zaldostanov, tweeting his photo and writing: “Vladimir Putin: ‘Deep conservatism is damaging our country's focus on the future’”
“I'm watching the inauguration and Putin is talking about the future, developing the country, and so on. So when do the cartoons with missiles start?”
“‘There's no time to drag our feet,’ says the man who's been in power for 18 years.”
“People will live better. [Laughter.]”
“He's shining. The inauguration à la Kubrick.”
Picture of the day.
  • Share to or