Putin era: Moving forward, falling back

The September 2004 school massacre at Beslan was likely the end of illusions Putin would become a Western-style leader. He remained publicly silent for a day and a half as Chechen terrorists held more than a thousand hostages at the Beslan school.

When it ended in hideous carnage that killed 334 people, more than half of them children, Putin seemed unable to comfort the traumatized nation, instead saying: "We showed weakness."

Less than two weeks later, he used Beslan as justification for sweeping electoral-law changes under which governors would no longer be popularly elected and individual candidates couldn't run for parliament. He used weakness to increase his strength, and the system he installed makes the outcome of Sunday's election a virtual certainty: victory for his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, and the likely appointment of Putin as prime minister.

Putin delivers chilling effect
When Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who had written scathingly about Beslan and Putin's policies in Chechnya, was gunned down in her apartment building, Putin waited even longer than during the Kursk disaster to go public. When he did, it was chilling for reporters working in a country considered among the most dangerous for journalists.

The killing was disgusting, Putin said, but dismissed her work as "very minor." He appeared most upset that the killing had damaged Russia's image.

Paragon of discipline
If Putin's politics eventually became clear, he has remained opaque as a person. He seldom shows signs of merriment and his rare smiles tend to be thin and vulpine. He's been seen with a beer or vodka in front of him, but whether he quaffs them down is uncertain. Only once has he let down his guard in public — when he affectionately kissed a young boy on the stomach.

"I'll be honest, I felt an urge to squeeze him like a kitten and that led to the gesture that I made. There was nothing behind it really," Putin said, smiling, when asked about this uncharacteristic moment.

Putin denies the charge that he's a man who loves only power. "They say that the worst addiction is to power," he said recently. "I have never felt that. I have never been addicted to anything."

But is Putin, this paragon of discipline, actually an addict in denial? As prime minister, healthy and vigorous at age 55, he would be sure to have a hand on the Russian steering wheel, and that means there are sure to be more surprises ahead.

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