With the inauguration this Tuesday, Vladimir Putin approaches the Russian tsars. If he completes his term, he will have been in power for 30 years, almost like Stalin. And if he has another mandate he would surpass Empress Catherine the Great. laSexta has spoken with Sara Núñez de Prado, professor of Contemporary History at the Rey Juan Carlos University, to find out what situation the Russian president is in.

The first question for Núñez de Prado has to do with the social support that Putin still has, however, with so much time in power, it is possible that some type of internal opposition was emerging. The teacher explained that “not as much as it seems”, and according to his calculations this “may be 20%.” However, he maintains that “it is weak” while the Russian president has “significant support from the people.”

Other issues raised are that the European Union sold two years ago, when the invasion of ukraine, that Russia was going to sink due to economic sanctions. But her economy is holding up without obvious problems, according to the professor, who in turn has detailed that “the GDP has risen.” Regarding sanctions, he explained that “they rarely really have positive effects.”

“In this case, furthermore, it has happened that Putin has changed the market”, argued Núñez de Prado, who explained that “instead of selling to those who sold before, now they sell to the BRICS, basically.” Another “fundamental and important element” is that Putin “receives help from China.”

The teacher, on the other hand, does not forget that Russia Yes, “it has a problem and that is that it is supporting this entire economy in the war industry”, which he assures, “implies that in the future it has to change or something is going to happen.” In short, “things are going well economically now” for Putin.

Are the Russians behind the Fuenlabrada fire?

On the other hand, on March 30, a fire occurred in an industrial warehouse in the Madrid town of Fuenlabrada that went unnoticed at the time and of which it is now known that the National Police is investigating whether it was provoked by pro-Russian groups. The agents are also investigating whether this incident is related to an attack suffered by a Ukrainian company in the United Kingdom that sent humanitarian aid to the country when the conflict began.

Asked if Russia has the capacity to provoke this type of events in different parts of the world, the Putin expert professor emphasizes “distinguishing between Russia as such and what Russian groups are,” about which she says “they do have the capacity.” “. “Russia, understood as a State, would be something else,” and she adds: “Of course they could be Russian groups, why not?”