The Moscow Times has three great articles about this weekend’s rescue drama in its Monday morning edition:
Mini-sub crew rescued after 3 days includes an excellent timeline of events which shows that it took almost 24 hours after the sub’s crew sent their first mayday message for news of the story to reach the press, and that only 32 hours after the event did the Russian Navy request assistance from other countries.
Has the Navy learned the lessons of Kursk? focuses, as you would expect, on criticism of the operation. Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov’s comment was particularly well directed at a Russian military that is often too proud (and too cash strapped) to buy in expertise from abroad when necessary:
"It is absolutely beyond my understanding why Britain has the needed equipment and we don’t," he said. "If we cannot build effective rescue equipment ourselves, we should have bought it from abroad."
The most effective criticism, however, comes from their editorial - A Real Leader Does Not Remain Silent
His decision to remain silent during the crisis appears to indicate a fear of being associated with potential tragedy.
This has been his style since the first test of his presidency, the sinking of the Kursk submarine in August 2000. Despite the criticism he received then, he demonstrated it again with his silence during the seizure of the school in Beslan last year.
He has been exceptionally quick to speak out in other situations, however, such as when the three teenage sons of Russian diplomats were beaten and robbed in Warsaw a week ago.
[…] The Kremlin seems to understand what television viewers everywhere feel: that if a president, or a defense minister, is on the screen talking about a dangerous situation, he has taken responsibility for how it turns out.
What the Kremlin seems not to understand is that taking responsibility in times of crisis is the clearest sign of confident leadership.
Real leadership is not the studious avoidance of blame. Real leadership is the acceptance of responsibility at precisely the moments when a panicked population needs reassurance — and when seven men trapped 190 meters under the ocean need unequivocal, unhesitating action from the highest level down.
Kremlin-connected spin doctor Gleb Pavlovsky has attributed Putin’s enduring popularity to the fact that he has always been seen as being above the social crises and terrorist attacks of recent years. But escaping responsibility is not a recipe for popularity. It’s a recipe for irrelevance.
I couldn’t say it any better myself.
