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It is insufficient, as some Western leaders now do, to call Russia's presidential "election" unfree or unfair — because they weren't even any meaningful elections in the first place (Photo: Anton Shekhovtsov)

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How the 'Putin at Noon' trick helped Russia's sham election

The English language has borrowed several words from Russian. Some reflect various aspects of Russian or Soviet history and technology. For example, words such as "pogrom", meaning a violent riot aimed at massacring Jews, or "sputnik" that refers to a space satellite — the Soviets were the first to launch one back in 1957.

And some words were borrowed probably just because of the "aww effect" they produce. "Babushka" — meaning an elderly woman, or a grandmother, with a headscarf tied be...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Anton Shekhovtsov is director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity in Vienna, visiting professor at the Central European University, and author of three books: New Radical Rightwing Parties in European Democracies (2011), Russia and the Western Far-Right: Tango Noir (2017), and Russian Political Warfare (2023).

It is insufficient, as some Western leaders now do, to call Russia's presidential "election" unfree or unfair — because they weren't even any meaningful elections in the first place (Photo: Anton Shekhovtsov)

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Author Bio

Anton Shekhovtsov is director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity in Vienna, visiting professor at the Central European University, and author of three books: New Radical Rightwing Parties in European Democracies (2011), Russia and the Western Far-Right: Tango Noir (2017), and Russian Political Warfare (2023).

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