Two things catch my attention about Borovsk as I walk through this city 100 kilometers from Moscow.
First, there is almost no sign of the presidential election that will be held in Russia from this Friday to Sunday the 17th.
I see few electoral banners or posters and no political leaflets are distributed.
It’s not surprising, by the way.
The absence of electoral preparations reflects the lack of drama in around an orchestrated event which will give Russian President Vladimir Putin a fifth term in the Kremlin.
Another thing that is impossible not to notice in Borovsk is the street art: it is everywhere. Much of it is by artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov, whose works are seen on walls and buildings around the city.
Although most of his paintings are not controversial, it increasingly happens that Vladimir’s paintings of modern-day Russia turn out to be very dark.
“I call this The Pinnacle of Ambition,” this 86-year-old artist tells me when he shows me in his house a painting of a man in a martial arts uniform walking a tightrope over a mountain of human skulls.
“This is what the ambition of someone at the top of power can lead to.”
Even more dramatic is his image of two meat grinders grinding people: one labeled 1937 (the year of Stalin’s Great Terror) and the other Special Military Operation (Russia’s war in Ukraine).
“We have not learned any lessons,” Vladimir concludes.
The artist was fined for “discrediting” the Russian army after graffitiing similar meat grinders on a wall. The same thing happened to him for showing in his street art missiles falling on a girl dressed in the blue and yellow of Ukraine.
The authorities do not look favorably on their graffiti criticizing the war in Ukraine, which is quickly painted over.
“My paintings make people think: are we right or wrong in this conflict?” Vladimir tells me. “I think it is a crime against the territorial integrity of a neighboring State. “I would be spoiling him if I stayed silent.”
“Many remain silent, because they are afraid of repression, of losing their jobs and of being criticized by others.”
After Alexei Navalny’s death in prison, Vladimir painted the portrait of this opposition leader on a local tombstone that honors the victims of political repression.
“The same day someone deleted it,” he says. “But at home he had painted a draft on cardboard. So later I placed it next to the monument.”
How does Vladimir see the future of Russia?
“Some predict more repression,” he notes, “and that we are heading toward totalitarianism and total dictatorship.”
The image of the president
Vladimir Ovchinnikov tells me that he never watches television. If he did, he would see a very different image of Russia on state TV.
It is Vladimir Putin’s version. No mountains of human skulls. No meat grinders. No mention of Alexei Navalny.
It is not a Russia that is aggressive on the outside and repressive on the inside. It is a Russia with a glorious past and an equally glorious future. A Russia of heroes and patriots grouped around the flag to defend the homeland from foreign aggression.
And it is a Russia that loves its current leader.
A few days ago, Russia’s Channel 1 evening news showed what appeared to be Putin admirers greeting the president, as if he were a pop star.
“Take care,” a woman shouted, before kissing him.
“Long live!” exclaimed a man.
If you go by Channel 1 news alone, you’re likely to conclude that Putin is likely to achieve a landslide victory in the presidential election.
But, as with paintings, context is important. And here it is crucial.
The Kremlin not only controls television in Russia, but the entire political system, including elections.
Putin He faces no serious challenge in his quest for a fifth presidential term. at 71 years of age.
A former KGB officer, the Soviet security service, Putin was chosen in late 1999 by President Boris Yeltsin and his inner circle to lead Russia into the 21st century.
After winning two elections in 2000 and 2004, he became prime minister while his ally Dimitri Medvedev replaced him in 2008, the year Russian presidential terms were extended to six years. He returned to office in 2012 and has remained there ever since, after being re-elected in 2018.
The Constitution established that no president could serve more than two consecutive terms. But since Putin’s account was officially brought to zero as of this year, could remain president until 2036.
His staunchest critics have gone into exile or been imprisoned in their country. Navalny, his fiercest opponent, is dead.
But the Kremlin likes to boast that Russia has the “best democracy” in the world. For this reason, in addition to Putin on the ballot there are three candidates officially authorized by the Russian Parliament, which is close to the Kremlin.
I recently met with one of them. It was a strange experience.
“Why do you think you would be a better president than Putin?” I asked Nikolai Kharitonov, the Communist Party candidate.
“It’s not for me to say,” Kharitonov responded. “It wouldn’t be right.”
“But do you think your manifesto is better than Putin’s?” I continued.
“That should be decided by the voters,” he said.
“But what do you think?” I insisted.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. That is for the voters to decide,” she said.
Instead of talking about himself, Kharitonov praised the incumbent president.
“Today Vladimir Putin is trying to solve many of the problems of the 1990s, when Yeltsin dragged Russia into savage capitalism,” Kharitonov said. “He attempts to consolidate the nation for victory in all areas. And that’s what will happen!”
Something tells me that this dispute is not what Nikolai Kharitonov is most excited about.
One politician who tried unsuccessfully to enter the vote was the anti-war Boris Nadezhdin.
“It is absolutely impossible to say that our presidential elections are fair and free,” Nadezhdin tells me.
He claims that he was prevented from applying because his anti-war message was becoming too popular.
“Polls show that between 30% and 35% of Russians wanted to vote for a candidate like me, who talks about peace. “It is an absolutely impossible outcome for our government.”
The image on the street
Back in Borovsk, I enjoy the view from the bridge over the Protva River.
From here, the city looks like a painting: an image of Russia that you could imagine hanging in the Hermitage museum.
At the top of a hill stands a beautiful church, with picturesque houses covered in snow at its feet. People walk warmly and carefully on icy paths.
I also go carefully to the city to gauge the mood. What do people on the streets of Borovsk think about the war, the elections and their president?
“It doesn’t matter what you vote, everything is decided beforehand”, a young woman named Svetlana tells me. “I don’t see the point in participating.”
But many here, especially older Russians, tell me they will vote.
As I talk to people it becomes clear that The Russia seen on television has many supporters.
“I hope Vladimir Putin wins the elections and ends the war,” Lyudmila tells me. “They have killed many young people. “When there is peace, many countries will finally understand that Russia is unbeatable.”
“Why do you want Putin to win?” I ask him. “After all, he is the one who started the Special Military Operation.”
“There are many opinions,” Lyudmila concedes. “Some say this war should never have started. Others say he was right. I’m not going to judge him now. “We don’t know all the political ins and outs.”
“Putin has been in power for almost a quarter of a century,” he noted. “In a country of 145 million people, is there no one else who can do your job?”
“Ah, no, we have many talented leaders who could lead the country in an emergency,” Lyudmila responds.
Nikolai will also vote for the current president, seemingly unfazed by two and a half decades of Putin in power.
“And? We had tsars who have ruled for a long time,” says Nikolai. “There were good and bad tsars. We had Stalin and Brezhnev. You can change leaders, but that makes little difference in our lives.”
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