On page 45 of "The Prince," Machiavelli also claims that "a prince must not worry about the reproach of cruelty " and Vladimir has certainly taken this advice to heart. As stated in the previous paragraph, two women were imprisoned for speaking out against Putin's reign of tyranny during their peaceful performance protest. By going to the extreme lengths of imprisoning and making an example of these women, it can be inferred that Putin does not care if he comes across as cruel to his subjects, so long as he is not hated.
The cruel actions of this Russian Leader instill fear in is subjects; which makes certain that he is not overpowered because the Russian people are to frightened to take action. Putin is a "ruthless dictator"" and "is possessed by cold fury and capable of great vengeance"" (Aron 46). It is clear that fear is instilled in the Russian nation due to the fact that very few choose to defy or stand up against Putin, and the few people that do end up imprisoned. Many of the people that speak out against the Russian Leader, are made into an example so that other people will not rise up. Masha Gessen reports, "Individual journalists have been threatened, attacked, and, in at least a few cases, apparently killed " by Putin's secret police. .
One example of this is Andrei Skovorodnikov who was threatened to be fired, then faced with six months in prison due to his personal blog's derogatory post featuring Putin's head on top of a woman's body proclaiming "Putin is a fag"" (Gessen 1). This post along with a few articles criticizing Putin lead to his arrest and sentence of 6 months. Putin's cruel treatment of this man, because of the article he posted, has been documented in numerous online and in-print newspapers. This "ruthless dictator "is not concerned with the fact that his reputation has been lowered, as long as he is feared through his acts of cruelty he will not lose power because people are too scared to rise up" (Aron 46).
