It is an old “film noir” and mystery books’ cliché; when you want to catch a criminal you must think like criminal, act like a criminal, be a criminal. And this might work in the cinema or the books but in real life, when you put a thug to catch a thug you end up with the mafia in front of your door collecting rent from the house you own, led by the thug who won and accompanied by the police for his protection. This is what ‘short of’ happened in Russia with Yeltsin and Putin. Yeltsin in his desperation – and probably inability - to fight the Russian mafia that controlled nearly everything, in an economy in ruins thought that he had the right thug and he was sure he owned him. Big, big mistake. In the end it was only greedy for power Vladimir who owned Putin and we all had the chance –for twenty years - to see the good KGB soldier Vladimir turning into villain marshal Putin.

Putin also reminded us something we often forget, the worst dictators, the most disturbing leaders, the most catastrophic tyrants have been popular in their beginnings and occasionally even elected to their position under democratic procedures. They have been the public’s choice over more reasonable alternatives. In a Russia that literally had hit bottom by the end of the cold war the only thing he has to do was financial security, the end of mafia’s control and the national pride the Russians had enjoyed for nearly a century and saw in ruins in less than a decade.

However odd it might sounds economic stability was the easiest of three. A nation used to shortcomings, a country founded and established on finance micromanagement where everything is controlled by the state, it was easy for Putin to control even the tiniest economic exchange and eventually control it are at least bring it to his convenience. Mafia was also easy, controlling all the security forces in a big brother bureaucracy, trained not to respect human or civil rights, often acting beyond the letter of the law he only had to terminate all the dons and become the don of dons himself. Instead of destroying mafia he used mafia, he made it part of his personal army. He became the godfather. What remained was national pride. The good old days everybody feared Russia, when the big bear was the other side, the yin to the yang, the other big one. Not the second, not the defeated, not the poor, the former enemy but the glorious other one. A worthy enemy, an equal.

And it is Donald Trump who gave that to Vladimir Putin. One hour watching any of the American TV news channels is enough to understand that the fear is back. Russian are so strong that they elected an American president. Trump, Putin’s puppet. Putin’s man in the White House. And what about Trump in Russia. Of course he is popular, he is Putin’s bitch after all.

Donald Trump is the stereotypical American poster boy from the soviet era. Fat, orange, greedy, idiot, trigger happy coward capitalist. You have to admit that the man is all that and much more and the masculine Russia with all the soviet memories and deep rooted social taboos, loves this picture. Donald Trump actually gave back to Russians their national pride – at least the way they see it – and that was not all. The same time Trump with all his actions and behaviour re-established Russia and especially Putin abroad he also spread the Putin fear. There is no nation this moment in front elections that is not terrified of the Russian mingling. Kremlin hacking the elections has become the global paranoia. Germany has elections on the 24^th of September and since May the German parties have started warning voters that they might read things about the Chancellor or other leaders that are not true, things made from Russian hackers under the instruction of Vladimir Putin.

Still, it is not just that. Having a president who’s willing to sell his soul literally to devil in the name of power and greed makes even Putin look good. Donald Trump launders Putin by just been worst.