In the MEDIA

R.Politik CEO and founder, Tatiana Stanovaya, is regularly quoted by major Russian and international media outlets. She is available for commentary in Russian and English.

All articles published by Tatiana Stanovaya and R.Politik’s other editors and analysts will be included here. 

2018-The-Guardian-logo-design
Commentary for The Guardian

‘Stop waiting for Putin’: Russian president takes backseat in crisis

Putin is working remotely and mainly focusing on cushioning blow to Russian economy

Analysts have noted that Putin’s approach mirrored some other countries, where local officials are tasked with enforcing tough regulations and the central government delivers economic stimulus. The approach would limit Putin’s exposure to unpopular decisions and preserve his public support.

There was another possibility, wrote Tatiana Stanovaya, a Russian political analyst and head of the R.Politik analysis firm: Putin simply does not see tackling the virus as his job. Unfortunately, she added, the state machinery “has forgotten how to act independently”.

“The president expects efficiency from his subordinates, but they have gotten used to merely implementing decisions made by others, and have now forgotten how to generate their own,” she wrote in a piece published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

READ MORE

CNN_logo_400x400
CNN

Coronavirus takes a serious turn in Russia, and Putin no longer radiates confidence

Analysis by Nathan Hodge, CNN

Updated 0805 GMT (1605 HKT) April 15, 2020

In a recent essay, Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Moscow Center said the coronavirus pandemic had underscored Putin’s isolation from ordinary Russians.
“One of the main topics today is why Putin is almost imperceptible in the coronavirus situation,” she wrote. “He only addressed the nation briefly twice and went to the [coronavirus] hospital in Kommunarka, but he neither gave his own assessments of the crisis nor proposed a plan of action, but limited himself to scattered measures and general words. No drama, empathy or attempts to mobilize.”
Putin, Stanovaya argued, does not wish to be associated with harsh or unpopular measures, leaving such chores to local subordinates. In the case of the coronavirus, the task of rolling out some of the most heavy-handed restrictions has fallen to Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow.
wsj_800x350
Commentary for WSJ

Coronavirus Jeopardizes Putin’s Extravagant Wartime Commemorations

Russian president must decide whether to cancel or postpone an event he has long used to burnish his image

Over the years, Mr. Putin has tried to harness the wave of patriotism connected to the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is commonly known in Russia, to bolster his position, analysts said.

Mr. Putin uses such events “to show that society and the authorities are together and united under common values,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R.Politik, a political analysis firm, adding that postponing the event would be like pushing back a birthday.

READ MORE

financial-times-logo
Commentary for Financial Times

Putin leaves tough coronavirus decisions to regional aides

Russian president is distancing himself from lockdown measures, thrusting senior lieutenants into limelight

Henry Foy in Moscow and Max Seddon in New York

In a televised meeting last week, Mr Sobyanin warned Mr Putin that government figures showing low numbers of infections underestimated the true scale of the outbreak. And last weekend he announced that Moscow would be placed under near-total lockdown. These moves have left other parts of the Russian power structure scrambling to follow the mayor’s lead. “It’s a strange situation for the Russian government that it has to, in fact, follow Sobyanin’s measures, and it creates some uncomfortable positions,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R. Politik, a Russia-focused political analysis firm.
“Sobyanin is responsible only for Moscow, but it feels like he acts in a parallel reality compared to the federal government,” said Ms Stanovaya. “On one hand, Sobyanin is a deputy head of Mishustin’s co-ordination council, but on the other hand he has autonomy, answers directly to Putin and has a direct link to the president.” “Most of the measures have been proposed by him but surely approved and agreed by Putin,” said Ms Stanovaya. “Sobyanin will not move a finger without Putin’s assent.”
the-new-york-times-logo
Commentary for The New York Times

The Russian leader hates to deliver bad news and wants to distinguish his rule from the turbulent presidency of Boris N. Yeltsin. So he is leaving it to his minions to announce harsh measures.

By Andrew Higgins

Mr. Putin, always wary of associating himself with bad news, last week delivered a surprise television address to the nation, warning that Russia “cannot isolate itself from the threat,” but then announced a weeklong paid vacation for the whole country.

This left the streets of Moscow and other cities filled with people enjoying their time off. The Kremlin later had to clarify that the country was not being given a bonus vacation but was simply being asked to stay at home.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a nonresident scholar at Carnegie Moscow Center, said that Mr. Putin’s public detachment from the health crisis fit into what, since he annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, has been his view that the presidency is not so much a job as a sacred mission.

“This is all connected to his sense of having a personal mission,” she said. “Why should he spend his sacred political capital on a virus?”

READ MORE

1_3920276
Commentary for La Presse

Russie: l’inévitable report du référendum

Le président russe a beau assurer que tout va bien et se targuer d’un nombre relativement bas de cas d’infections (à peine 1200 personnes contaminées, sur une population de 146 millions d’habitants !), ces statistiques officielles sous-estiment largement la réalité, estime la politologue russe Tatiana Stanovaya.

Celle-ci ne croit pas que les autorités russes mentent, mais pense plutôt qu’elles ne connaissent pas la réalité sanitaire du pays.

Nous n’avons pas assez de tests diagnostiques et ceux que nous avons ne sont pas assez précis.

Tatiana Stanovaya, politologue russe

En même temps, les élites proches du Kremlin préfèrent ne pas trop exposer la vulnérabilité du pays, et des tensions sur la stratégie à déployer face au virus déchirent la classe politique.

Ainsi Sergueï Sobianine, le maire de Moscou, capitale frappée par l’épidémie, tient un discours beaucoup plus alarmiste. Selon lui, le nombre de contaminations est « significativement plus élevé » que les cas reconnus officiellement.

READ MORE

top_logo_news RFE
Commentary for Radio Free Europe

Accused Of Downplaying COVID-19 Figures, Kremlin Clamps Down On ‘Fake News’

According to Tatiana Stanovaya, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center, holding the vote is the Kremlin’s main priority, and efforts to control information fit into that broader goal.

“If you describe the situation as well-managed, saying everything is under control and there is no big risk to the national vote, then you can still hold it,” she said. “But if you lose control of the information space, if you let panic unfold and people become anxious, you won’t be able to hold the vote in such circumstances.”

The Russian authorities have themselves stood accused of sowing disinformation abroad about the coronavirus. Excerpts of an internal EU document leaked to the press on March 16 said that pro-Kremlin media outlets were actively spreading disinformation about the pandemic in a bid to “undermine public trust” in Western countries.

READ MORE

Print
Commentary for The Moscow Times

In First Address to Nation on the Coronavirus, Putin Holds Back From Stringent Measures

The Russian leader also delayed a vote on constitutional changes that could see him remain in power until 2036.

By Evan Gershkovich and Jake Cordell

Updated:

The Russian president also said that all interest and dividend payments leaving Russia will incur a 15% tax — up from the current 2%.

Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the political analysis project R.Politik, said that the form and substance of Putin’s address stayed true to his history as a populist leader.

“In Russia, the authorities have always been scared to look weak and to instill panic in society,” she said. “They are trying to inspire confidence in the people and to make it look like the situation is under control.”

READ MORE

Unknown-e1563462770588
Commentary for Foreign Policy

In the Coronavirus, Putin May Have Met His Match

The Russian leader still wants to make himself president for life. But COVID-19 is fomenting new distrust in the state he built.

BY

|

But while the official response has begun to view the spread of coronavirus as a more serious threat, measures taken by the government appear to reflect political priorities over public health and safety concerns. Putin did not use his speech last week delaying the April vote to impose a full-scale quarantine on Russia. Instead the Russian leader announced a week of paid holiday, introduced smaller-scale measures to boost the country’s economy, and insisted that Russians take the spread of the virus more seriously.

“It looks like Putin is not fighting against the virus, but against his decreasing ratings,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, the founder of the political consultancy R.Politik and a scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “The problem of the Russian authorities is that they are afraid to be seen as weak. They think stricter measures will make it look like the state is losing control and can’t manage the situation.”

READ MORE

top_logo_news
Commentary for VoA

Russia Embraces Quarantine Tactics Amid Coronavirus Surge

By Charles Maynes
March 30, 2020 04:36 PM

Others argued that Putin was merely distancing himself from more unpopular restrictions — at least until they were trial-ballooned by the hapless Moscow mayor — in effect, playing good cop to Sobyanin’s bad.

Putin threw Sobyanin “before the firing squad, and himself remained in the shadows, giving speculation that Sobyanin is acting on his own,” wrote Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst with R.Politik, in a post to her Telegram channel.

Stanovaya chalked the showdown to the shifting improvisational nature of Putin’s rule, one in which “circumstances rule.”

“And who rules the circumstances, rules Russia,” added Stanovaya.

READ MORE

Cookies & Privacy

By continuing to browse, you are agreeing to our use of cookies as explained in our Conditions générales.
Close

Sign up for our emails!

Receive updates and news from R.Politik

Your email is safe with us, we don’t spam.