The Evolution of the Image of Vladimir Putin in Der Spiegel in the Context of the Ukrainian Crisis

At the beginning of 2012, the journalists of Der Spiegel, predicting a difficult third presidential term for Vladimir Putin, focused on the home political situation in Russia, on protest moods and rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But in 2014 the focus of their interest shifted to the field of Russia's foreign policy, which began to play the role of the dominant factor in constructing the image of the Russian president in one of the most important information and political magazines in Germany and Europe. The article aims to identify trends in the evolution of the external image of Vladimir Putin in the weekly Der Spiegel in the context of the most important events of the Ukrainian crisis, first of all, the inclusion of Crimea to Russia, which played a special role in the evolution of the image of the Russian president, setting the vector of foreign policy assessments as the determining factor in the design of this image. On the materials of Der Spiegel, different positions are considered in relation to Russia in the post-Crimean period in Europe and the world. Based on these positions, the author identifies three wings with variations characterizing the components of Putin's image: opponents, "Putin understanders", and skeptics. If the first wing focuses on the personal qualities and cultural-symbolic elements of the image of the Russian president in a negative perspective, sometimes in an extremely unflattering form, the second one emphasizes Putin's realism and "sober" approach to the role in neutralizing fears of Russia's neighbors about the country's expansionist aspirations. Skeptics are represented mainly by Jakob Augstein, the columnist and co-owner of Der Spiegel, who is very critical in his assessment of the Western policy towards Russia, its tendency to demonize the image of the president, and attempts to shift the responsibility for all the world evil to him. Considering all the three positions contributes to forming a clear view of the image of the head of the Russian Federation in the weekly in various projections and thus to moving beyond the established idea that the Western media only demonize his image: anyway, this is not about Der Spiegel.

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