Recently, Russian president Vladimir Putin has been questioned for his role regarding a global scandal dubbed the “Panama Papers”. These papers suggest that multiple leaders in politics and business from a plethora of nations stole billions of dollars from their own people and hid the money in offshore holdings. Though Putin himself does not directly appear in these anonymously leaked documents, many of Putin’s closest associates do, and there is great speculation whether or not the Russian president was aware of their actions, and if not, how he could have missed them.
In a statement released by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the Russian government believes Putin to be a victim of Putinphobia – an intensely misguided fear of their president aiming to bring unnecessary hatred upon the Eurasian president. He believes people hate Putin for completely bogus reasons. So, in order to prevent this great injustice from getting too out of control, the following is a list of reasons to despise Vladimir Putin that are wholly valid, reasonable, and not bogus in the least bit:
The Deaths of the Heavenly Hundred:
For those unfamiliar with current Eastern European geography, Ukraine borders Russia to the east, Poland to the west, and Belarus to the north. The Black Sea borders to the south. In 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin thought it best to intervene his neighbor’s peaceful protesting called Euromaidan started by university students in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, with snipers armed with machine guns. Despite numerous claims he never sent anyone to Kyiv, Ukraine and its allies strongly believe otherwise. In the end, an estimated 100 people, whom Ukrainians refer to as the “The Heavenly Hundred” were murdered.
Intense Homophobia:
Members of the LGBTQIA Community face intense discrimination in Russia. Neither same sex marriage nor civil unions are allowed by the Kremlin, and the possibility for a change does not look too promising – Putin believes that “gay propaganda” (public displays of affection by same sex couples such as holding hands or kissing) corrupts the youth and should be punishable under the court of law. Moreover, if a crime against a person of the LGBTQIA community is committed, it cannot be declared a hate crime.
Using Brute Force to Steal Ukrainian Territory:
The nation of Ukraine is supposed to consist of 24 oblasts, 1 capital city, and 1 Autonomous Republic. Oblasts are types of administrative divisions, sort of like states or provinces for the nation. An Autonomous Republic is another kind of administrative division. Beginning in February 2014, Vladimir Putin decided otherwise. He decided it was most beneficial to all if he sent Russian military forces to annex eastern and southern oblasts of Ukraine, sending fear, unrest, panic, and war to the Eastern European nation. It also took Putin a really long time for him to admit to the world what he was doing. To put this in perspective, imagine how Americans would feel if a foreign nation decided it was in everyone’s best interest to conduct a military invasion of Florida and a couple of New England states, and deny it was doing anything at all.