POTEMKIN PUTIN: More show than go:

Vladimir Putin held a press event at his residence in Sochi on Thursday to show off a brand new military-grade version of a Russian-built UAZ Patriot truck. In the course of the inspection, Putin tried to open the front passenger-side door, but the door wouldn’t budge. The head of the Main Armor Office of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant-General Alexander Shevchenko, stepped up to help the President. The Russian General pulled on the door handle and it gave away, coming off in his hand. The nervous-looking general then proceeded to demonstrate the other strong points of the new UAZ: the back door still opens, and the vehicle can be fitted with a 12mm machine gun. The Patriot’s designers tried to explain away the incident: the handle did not work because the vehicle was “blocked” since the engine was not running.

It was by no means the first time Putin’s staged attempts at burnishing his country’s resurgent superpower status ran headlong into technical difficulties. Two weeks ago, Putin arrived at the newly-constructed Vostochny Cosmodrome to witness the launch of a Soyuz rocket. What was supposed to be a bold display of Russia’s prowess ended in debacle: the first launch failed to get off the ground due to “technical glitches”, and Putin had to stay in Blagoveshchensk, in Russia’s Far East, a second day for the rocket to finally take off.

A year ago a brand new next generation battle tank, the T-14 Armata, stalled in middle of the Red Square during a military parade rehearsal, two days before Putin’s favorite national holiday, Victory Day.

He’s good at spying and direct measures and other Chekist stuff, though.