Motyl: Deconstructing Putin on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych attend a ceremony celebrating Navy Day in Sevastopol on July 28, 2013. AFP PHOTO/ PRESIDENTIAL PRESS-SERVICE POOL/ MYKHAYLO MARKIV
President Vladimir Putin’s September 4th interview with Russian state broadcaster Channel One and the Associated Press cast a bright light on the incompetence of his public relations office and on his own antediluvian notions about Ukraine.
Whoever translated the official Kremlin transcript showed a striking ignorance of the English language—the translation is wooden—and of elementary political-historical terminology. Several sentences stand out, both because the translation is shockingly bad and because, when dissected, they reveal a great deal about Putin’s mind-set.
