Where is Putin? Kremlin turns uncertainty into a weapon

In a world where transparency is often expected, Russian journalists in exile have developed an unusual investigative technique: applied botany. To determine the actual date of meetings presented by the Kremlin as current, reporters meticulously examine the plants in Vladimir Putin's office. By observing the freshness or wilting of leaves and flowers, and comparing images from different days, they seek clues to the real filming time.

This method, described as a form of improvised "power dendrochronology," reveals a stark reality. A nation with a nuclear arsenal and global power aspirations forces observers to resort to such unconventional means to uncover the truth. The article suggests that this pervasive secrecy is not a personal quirk of Putin but a direct inheritance from Soviet traditions, where political power was meticulously staged and information was tightly controlled.

During the Cold War, Western Sovietologists developed complex methods of indirect deduction, analyzing everything from the order of Politburo members at parades to the tone of obituaries. In a system where official silence often conveyed more than official statements, even a leader's health, like Leonid Brezhnev's heart attack or Yuri Andropov's kidney failure, was concealed from public knowledge.

The article contrasts this with a recent incident involving Donald Trump's secret flight, which, while considered unusual in the U.S., is deemed "child's play" by Russian investigative reporter Mikhail Rubin when compared to the Kremlin's systemic secrecy. For Moscow, secrecy is not an exception; it is the fundamental operating system.