Archiwum dyplomatyczne: Niedźwiedź na rosyjskiej scenie politycznej
Diplomatic archive: The bear on Russia’s political scene

Summary/Abstract: The story how the bear image appeared on the Russian political Olympus can be recounted in a number of ways — but the fact is, it happened by accident. Back in 1999, Boris Berezovsky, with the so-called Family, ran the Unity bloc, and their biggest competitors were Moscow politicians Yevgeny Primakov and Yuri Luzhkov. If they had come to power, Berezovsky’s position would have been be threatened, so he opted to play the anti-Moscow card, emphasizing normality and opposition to capital-city politicking. He invented the “Bear”, to symbolize strength, justice and, most importantly, everything that was provincial and opposite to being Moscow-like.

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