Erstellt am: 30. 3. 2012 - 18:00 Uhr
To Vladimir
Russia's outgoing President Dmtri Medvedev has long tauted himself as the country's first Internet savvy leader. Medvedev blogs, he posts videos, he shoots digital photography (on a Leica no less) and, now - with just weeks left in his presidency - he has proven the inadvertant master of the twitter trend.
During this week's nuclear arms summit in Seoul, US President Barak Obama and Mr. Medvedev made headlines when a private discussion about U.S. proposals for a missile defense shield in Europe was picked up by a microphone.
The international press – not to mention the Republican presidential candidates – seized on Obama's comments he would be more "flexible" to negotiate the issue, after his reelection. But Russia's Twitterati, meanwhile, have devoted their attention to Medvedev's promise to Obama, "[to] pass this on to Vladimir".
Vladimir, of course, refers to Vladimir Putin, Russia's carousel Prime Minister/President, who was elected to a 3rd term at the Kremlin's top spot this month after Medvedev declined to fight for the post. Medvedev's willingness to step aside for Putin dissapointed many Russians, particularly in Moscow, and helped spawn a wave of opposition-led protests this winter.
The Russian translation of the phrase #владимиру ("to Vladimir") quickly became a 'trending topic', as Russians wryly noted that Mr. Medvedev would pass on everything to Vladimir May 7th, the day Putin is set to be sworn in.
But Medvedev wasn't done.
The next day, Medvedev again soared in the Twitter rankings after a tabloid published news that the Russian leader's beloved cat 'Dorofei' had run away from the presidential compound outside of Moscow.
Using the hashtag #дорофей "Run Dorofei Run!" became one common meme. "It's obvious they wanted to give Dorofei to Vladimir" wrote another. "I know who has your cat" posted another, alongside a photo of US President Barack Obama and Dorofei.
http://bilostalo.ru/images/1517
As for Putin? The Twitterati quoted him as a not having seen Dorofei either, though his comments came with a photo of Putin wearing a conspicuously large fur hat.
Ultimately, even Medvedev weighed in if only to clarify: Dorofei had never gone missing. "Thank you for your concern!" he wrote.
Still, one more tweet came down the pipe, this time from the satirical KermlinRussia, a Twitter user who has mocked Medvedev's high-tech adventures in office over the past 4 years. "This whole wasted presidency, and all Medvdev found was his cat."