Where’s Putin?

It’s been 8 days now.  And one of the most dangerous men in the world today is MIA.  If his henchmen know, they aren’t telling. And you can bet he hasn’t gone fishing.

Of late, Putin has been busy laying siege to Donetsk and the beleagured citizens of Ukraine. When he hasn’t been contracting out hits on his chief political opponents, like Boris Nemtsov. It’s been a while since I sharpened my verbal claws at Putin’s expense, but the sad truth is, things haven’t changed. He’s only proved out my initial allegations.

So where’s Putin? The rumour mills are rife. Let’s dispell some of those better ones, shall we? I don’t think he’s gone to Switzerland for the birth of his love-child.  Nor do I think the Orthodox Russian Church has staged a coup.  And no, he has not been abducted by aliens. I’m more inclined to agree with the recent New York Post article that says Putin ‘disappeared on purpose to distract everyone from the problems and economic pressures piling up around them.’

But something is definitely up.  Per the New York Post article, at least two news articles have had the dates doctored to make it seem like Putin was there when he wasn’t. This wouldn’t be the first time that Putin has pulled a disappearing act when there was turmoil:  2000 when the Kursk submarine sank and in 2002 when hundreds of theatre goers were held captive by terrorists in Moscow. He’s got a lot of unsavoury stuff on his plate right now, including a worsening economic situation.

But he also, clearly, has an agenda, and he’s been able to follow it almost unimpeded, save for ineffective economic sanctions and a lot of huffing and puffing by international figures.  My guess is that he’s pulled away to regroup and reassess.  He is still the chessmaster, adept at concealing his true intent and next move. He is setting something up now. And he needs to be ready by Monday to keep the world in order. It could be a very clever ploy to get someone to overstep their bounds into his territory, giving him the cause he wants to engage. As I have always cautioned with Putin, never underestimate him.  We really don’t know what he is going to do, and that’s how he wants it.

Maybe CNN’s Sunday team will have a fresh spin on the scuttlebutt. But if Putin doesn’t want to be found until he’s ready to come out, we’ll just be hearing replays of what’s already out there. Watch, wait, and be ready for anything.

Thanks for reading!

Cheryl Biswas