Paul Global writes for The Jamestown Foundation: Polls taken over the last decade show that Russians view their country’s space program as second only to victory in World War II as the key “reference point” in their history. At the same time, it is seen as a symbol of authoritarian modernization their government has promised but not always delivered on. And finally, it serves as “an indicator” of whether the country is moving in the right direction under Vladimir Putin or not (Levada.ru, April 10, 2011 and April 8, 2016; Wciom.ru, April 12, 2021). That makes the sector’s problems in recent years far more politically salient than would otherwise be the case, security analyst Pavel Luzin writes. The deteriorating situation means the Kremlin may continue to throw good money after bad in the hope that it can turn things around before the system collapses entirely (Riddle, July 7, 2021).
go to The Jamestown Foundation: For Russians, Space Program Measures Status of Putin’s Authoritarian Modernization – Jamestown
