Careful Quote by Masha Gessen

Putin needs strong moves to keep the country as one. There is some criticism that he is centralizing power, but in Russia, if you…

— Anatoly Karpov

Dictatorships sometimes fall unexpectedly and quickly. And [Vladimir] Putin knows that for him, the loss of power doesn't mean a comfortable retirement, but something…

— Garry Kasparov

If Putin and those around him had been smart enough to go in a different direction... The country was ready. The conditions were extremely…

— Vladimir Voinovich

“Like most regimes not based on genuine popular support in an era of open access to information, Putin’s is inherently unstable and requires vigilant…

— Gregory Feifer

Mr. Putin presents himself as a czar - and like any czar, he fears revolution above all else.

— Simon Sebag Montefiore

There are many facts showing that Putin's people enriched themselves by using power mechanisms so that's why for them losing power means losing their…

— Garry Kasparov

Putin is no different than any other powerful man, like a Senator, or a President.

— Donald Trump

Vladimir Putin is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, oh, isn't that a terrible thing - the man has…

— Donald Trump

“As in 1917, the drift towards authoritarian government under Putin was enabled by the weakness of the middle classes and public institutions in post-Soviet…

— Orlando Figes

People sometimes ask: Is Putin a clever man? Yes, he's clever in his own way, when it comes to political intrigue, and he's got…

— Vladimir Voinovich

I think Putin's popularity was genuine when he first came to power. He was seen as a welcome relief from the Yeltsin era.

— Masha Gessen

Autocratic leadership existed in Russia for many centuries, changing only its ideological colors and method of legitimization.

— Lilia Shevtsova