Robert Amsterdam

An opinion piece on Dmitry Medvedev, written by popular Russian author Victor Erofeyev, has appeared in today’s New York Times. With so much negative attention from the Western press focused on Sunday’s presidential elections, it is surprising to see such a beacon of optimism regarding both Vladimir Putin’s rule (“for the majority of Russians, Mr. Putin will enter history as a positive figure”), and Medvedev’s future role in the country - Erofeyev hails him as “the last hope for me and for the Russia I love”.

Given the New York Times’ recent, rather blasé approach to Russia’s future president, could this article demonstrate a change of tack? Or does the article take on a different meaning in light of the fact that Erofeyev is apparently "the son of a high-ranking Soviet diplomat who worked closely with Stalin"?

Read the full article here.