Authors

Discussion

The Benevolent Warlord? Presidential images projected through the Direct Line 2018-2024 

This paper takes its point of departure in the autocratic paradox: that the authoritarian incumbent leader of Russia needs to appear responsive to citizens while maintaining strict control over political outcomes. It analyzes how the Kremlin uses the annual media spectacle Direct Line with Putin to create an illusion of the president’s accountability and accessibility, and to nurture the image of him as a contemporary benevolent czar, genuinely caring for his people and their everyday grievances. Whereas the Direct Line was cancelled in 2022, presumably due to the launch of the full-scale war against Ukraine, it was taken up again in 2023. This allows for a study of continuity and change of the legitimation patterns employed throughout Putin’s fourth period of presidential tenure and up to the present. Consequently, the paper will address what changes have occurred in the incumbent’s projected public image during the protracted war.