The Kremlin can plan a "small victorious war" on the eve of the presidential elections in Russia, but not with the aim of raising the rating of Vladimir Putin, but with the aim of diverting the attention of Russians from pressing problems and combating protest moods.

This opinion was expressed to the "Observer" by the Russian lawyer Mark Feigin.

Answering the question whether Putin will take radical steps to secure victory in the first round of elections, the lawyer assured: "This formulation of the question suggests that Putin needs to somehow maintain the voters' interest in relation to himself. But the problem is different. Elections as an institution in Russia are not. Of course, in the first round he will be discharged 70% or somehow, and this need not at least somehow correlate with the votes of voters cast for him in the elections. Because counting and voting are two divorced procedures ".

At the same time, Feigin drew attention to the fact that "Putin has internal problems connected, most likely, with the protest activity that exists in large cities" and which, according to the lawyer, can grow.

To prevent the implementation of an undesirable scenario, "he can go to actions that divert attention from internal problems," admitted Feigin.

"It could be a" little victorious war "?" - asked "The Observer". "Putin has repeatedly conducted them. One more, one less - in essence, this will not change anything, "- answered the lawyer.

At the same time, he admitted: "Yes, it can be decided. But not to win the election, but in order to release steam in the other direction, the public discontent ". In this context, Feigin recalled that in the case of the Crimea this "really worked". The annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula "largely extinguished the protest moods of mid-2012".

As the "Observer" wrote, earlier the Russian opposition politician Konstantin Borovoi called the "sad parameter" for Vladimir Putin at the next presidential election in Russia.

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