Familiar Promises in Russia

The lower house of Russia’s parliament wasted little time Monday confirming Vladimir V. Putin as the country’s latest prime minister. Putin’s first official act was to pledge to do the things most Russians want done, including raising living standards, getting tough on law-and-order issues and protecting ethnic Russians living in former Soviet republics. It’s a familiar agenda, though after years of similar unmet promises most Russians have been left cynical about their leaders’ ability to deliver.

Putin is President Boris N. Yeltsin’s fifth prime minister in 17 months and his handpicked choice to succeed him after next June’s presidential election. Given Yeltsin’s enormous unpopularity, that endorsement might prove to be a curse rather than a blessing.

Putin, whose career has been almost entirely that of a shadowy intelligence operative, has inherited an internal security crisis. An Islamist revolt in the multiethnic Caucasian republic of Dagestan is challenging Moscow’s ability to hold together the disparate Russian Federation of 22 republics. Moscow, after the Chechnya debacle, can’t afford another humiliating military standoff. Its generals now hint at using the most ruthless measures to suppress the Dagestan insurgents. But unbridled ruthlessness in Chechnya did not bring victory.

For now, Putin’s main task is simply to survive politically. Many believe he was put in office chiefly to protect Yeltsin’s family and cronies, who are reputed to have grown enormously rich during his presidency. If Putin is seen as failing at that he will probably be dumped as unceremoniously as were his predecessors.