Putin’s ‘Cringe’ Weekend of Humiliation
His effort to put on a show of strength didn’t fool anyone.
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Putin’s ‘Cringe’ Weekend of HumiliationHis effort to put on a show of strength didn’t fool anyone.Cathy YoungJun 09, 2026ShareRussian President Vladimir Putin looks on during the plenary of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 5, 2026 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)RUSSIAN PUNDITS AND JOURNALISTS HAD CHOICE WORDS to describe the just-concluded St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: “A freak show.” “A fake.” “A Potemkin village.” For that matter, even the quasi-dissident Russian businessman Dmitry Potapenko, who still lives in Russia and was in attendance at the event, remarked in a YouTube interview that there was “more cringe” (yes, “krindzh” is now a Russian word) than usual—perhaps the perfect way to describe this year’s…
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