The writer Victor Erofeyev has published an opinion article in the New York Times commenting about what motivations Russians to embrace a familiar if ugly past instead of imagining a reformed future.  His expression of support here echoes what he wrote in Feb. 2008, calling Medvedev Russia’s “last hope.”

In any case, I — for all my skepticism about any Kremlin initiative — declare my support for Mr. Medvedev, because, ladies and gentlemen, we have hit bottom. It all began with the Kremlin’s declaration, not long before the financial crisis, that Russia is rising from its knees. But a large body needs help to get up. In this case, the chosen instrument of assistance was imperial crutches. But where were they to be found? All the neighboring countries of the former U.S.S.R. not only declined to serve as crutches, but, like children during a school break, ran away (for the most part toward Europe).