INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Moscow: President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday opened a $4 billion bridge directly linking Russia to Crimea,
giving him a propaganda victory that drew condemnation from the West and served as the latest demonstration of Putin's personalized system
of power.Putin, clad in jeans and a jacket, walked on the Russian end of the 12-mile-long, four-lane bridge alongside the business mogul who
built it - Arkady Rotenberg, the president's former judo partner
Then Putin took to the wheels and drove over the Kerch Strait of the Black Sea in an orange Kamaz dump truck - manufactured by a state-owned
company headed by Sergey Chemezov, Putin's KGB colleague in East Germany in the 1980s
sanctions.Like many key moments of Putin's presidency, it was a made-for-TV event designed to showcase his resolve and authority
State television broadcast live from a camera mounted inside the truck cab as Putin threw it into gear and made small talk with a
construction worker sitting next to him
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier told journalists that Putin's bridge project shows that "even the most ambitious plans can be
realized when they are implemented by him.Putin annexed Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula in the Black Sea, in 2014, after claiming that ethnic
Russians in the region were threatened by Ukraine's pro-Western revolution
Starting Wednesday morning, up to 40,000 passenger cars a day will be able to cross the bridge, drastically reducing the time it takes
Russians to reach Crimea, which until now was accessible from Russia only by plane or ferry.Ukraine and the European Union slammed the
bridge opening as illegal
The bridge, constructed without Kiev's consent, "constitutes another violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity by
spokeswoman said in a statement."I am confident that the aggressor will not succeed and will bear responsibility in full," Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko said on Facebook, referring to Russia
"The invaders will need the bridge when they have to urgently leave our Crimea."The West and much of the rest of the world still do not
recognize the annexation as legitimate
But to many Russians, Putin's "return" of the popular vacation destination remains his crowning achievement
In 1954, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had transferred control of Crimea from Russia to Ukraine.It also demonstrated, his supporters say,
Putin's uncompromising push to put Russian interests first and stand up to Western hegemony.The bridge opening represents a milestone in
Putin's efforts to show the world - and his people - that the annexation of Crimea was irreversible
The bridge will open to truck traffic in the fall, and a railroad component is scheduled to open late next year
It has been eagerly anticipated by Crimeans as an economic lifeline to their now-isolated and sanctions-hit territory
On Tuesday, state television predicted that it would bring many new tourists and lower food prices in Crimea.It also underscored the
Putin-centric system of political and economic patronage in Russia
Rotenberg's role as the builder of the bridge showed how Russia's billionaires have been able to leverage their closeness to Putin to
further enrich themselves - while also rendering services to the state.Asked on state television whether international sanctions had
interfered with the project, Rotenberg responded: "Those who wanted to interfere helped us instead
They made us more attentive and thoughtful
Well - probably they did create certain difficulties, but we've overcome them and these difficulties made us unite."Russian media have
documented Putin's close involvement in the project at length
When a worker at the site told him in March as cameras rolled that the roadway was slated to open by the end of this year, Putin responded:
"Can it be done by May""We'll try," the worker said."That would be great, so that people can use it in the summer season," Putin said.The
focus on Putin's role, however, also hinted at a less flattering reality: the untold number of poor roads, railroads and bridges across the
country that don't benefit from the president's personal patronage
The World Bank ranks the quality of Russia's trade and transport infrastructure as 94th-best in the world, just behind Tunisia and ahead of
Colombia.Across the country, Russians complain of corruption and poor execution hindering much-needed public works repairs and
The government's push to pour money into Crimea will mean even fewer funds for projects elsewhere, said Dmitry Oreshkin, a Moscow political
analyst."No matter how many wrinkles Vladimir Putin has on his forehead and no matter how many hands he has, this model of manual leadership
only works on so many projects," Oreshkin said.(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a
