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March 16, 2015 |
Russian President Vladimir Putin reappeared on Monday after an unusually long absence from public view. Putin attended a meeting with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in St. Petersburg. This meeting comes after Putin canceled several other scheduled events last week, leading to conspiracy theories about where he might be and speculation about his health. Putin was last seen in public at a news conference on March 5. Last week, Russian state media published old photos and reported Putin's Monday appearance as if it already happened. Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin issued a statement from Putin about the Women's World Chess Championship, and a state-owned Russian news agency quoted the country's defense minister as saying Putin ordered 40,000 troops to be on full alert for military exercises. The broadcaster later apologized and called the incident a "mistake," but the incorrect report led to more speculation about state media covering up for Putin's unexplained absence, according to the newspaper. Putin didn't seem bothered by the rumors surrounding his absence: Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider on Friday that Putin's absence could have been well-calculated. "Putin is nothing if not capricious. He enjoys keeping people waiting and guessing, it's part of a display of the trappings of power," he said. As more time passed, however, the Kremlin stumbled. "The Kremlin is by no means a stranger to maskirovka, strategic deception, but I see no reason to think this was anything of the sort," Mark Galeotti, a New York University professor specializing in global affairs and Russian and Slavic studies, told Business Insider by email last week. Galeotti said Putin's disappearance made the Kremlin look clumsy and "attracted attention to Russia, its plans and intentions."  Putin hasn't been out of the Kremlin spotlight for more than a day since the early 2000s, when he dropped off the grid after a national tragedy (the sinking of the submarine Kursk in 2000) and in 2002 when terrorists took over a Moscow theater and more than 100 civilians died. So his lengthy absence is unprecedented in that it has no obvious cause. Putin is, however, dealing with serious matters. On February 27, a gunman murdered prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov outside the Kremlin‚ and Bremmer said that it is "extremely unlikely he ordered Nemtsov's killing, but it was clearly an inside job." He added that dealing with the situation "is surely [Putin's] top priority."  There are signs of turmoil in Putin's inner circle as well. Two people in Putin's circle of advisers told Bloomberg that the Russian president is "becoming more critical" of longtime confidant and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin after the 52-year-old made a series of moves that irked Putin. And a biographer of Putin told Business Insider that factions within the Kremlin power structure have become visible, it's likely there will be some power change-ups, and that "fights over the number two position" — aka the position held by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev — have "exploded!" This led to speculation about some sort of coup. Other rumors claimed he died, was on paternity leave, had cosmetic surgery, or was seriously ill. But it's possible that we'll never know the reason behind Putin's unusual absence. Jeremy Bender contributed to this report. SEE ALSO: Here are the best theories about why Putin has disappeared |
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