Russian strongman reportedly hired a tribute band for a private recital
This may seem like one of those silly-season fillers, but it’s actually deadly serious. Much of Putin’s popularity in Russia is rooted in his strong-man image: the latest in a long line of autocrats from the Czars through Stalin. Hence all those pictures of bare-chested Putin, judo-champ Putin, etc. So a story to the effect that he hired an ABBA tribute band—Bjorn Again—for a private recital, and danced to it, is potentially lethal. Needless to say, Putin’s spokespeople are stoutly denying he attended any such concert.