You have all the powers that Putin currently does. Everyone completely loyal to Putin is now loyal to you. Enemies of Putin are enemies of you. Putin no longer exists, and there has been a clean and absolute transfer of power to you. The economic, military, social and political situations are the same as they now are. You are not inhabiting Putin’s body, you are just you. You’re magically transferred to the Kremlin. The world at large doesn’t know your past life, to them you have magically appeared as the new ruler. To everyone who knew you before, you just vanished.
Edit: no one knows your past life YET. They’ll quickly figure it out. You will not lose any support based on your actions in your past life.
Now that’s a sequel to Freaky Friday I’m down for. I don’t want the Putin mantle though, can the movie feature Zelenskyy and Putin waking up in each other’s bodies?
(Real answer btw is the same as everyone else, we just want the war to end and Russia to be free, y’all.)
Let a hell of a lot of people out of prison and throw a Pussy Riot concert for them.
I think hiring more people from North Korea, increase policing for conscription avoidance and spend a lot on industrial policies to encourage arms production. Mjeh, basically what they’re already doing.
Invite DJT, Bibi and several other leaders to my dining room, on 14th floor, with great view as with many, many windows …
Removed by mod
End the war, arrest and imprison all oligarchs, declare the rebirth of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic)
What do you do about the generation of Russians who have lived West of that border their entire lives?
This is the real rub about border disputes that last more than a few years.
Put all money into conquering pluto while trying to make it a planet again
United Soviet Socialist States of the Kuiper Belt
What’s your take on Eris, Ceres etc?
Everything in space is a planet, even the moon
Try to learn Russian really quickly.
Blyat
You’re the president, just make English the official language. Now it’s their problem.
Resign. I can’t handle that kind of responsibility
Nice try, Putin.
Just asking for a friend
- Give Volodymyr a call
- Pull out of Ukraine and Georgia
- Hand over Putin to ICC
- Instruct the loyalists that democratic reform is coming, and nobody is to be given the window/tea treatment.
- Announce an election in 6 months, with international observers encouraged to participate
- Realize that I have no fucking idea how to ensure that elections on that scale are free and fair, so I ask for assistance from aforementioned observers.
- Realize that I am in no way fit to run a country, and start planning my (safe) exit.
Sounds like a good way to get a pro Putin oligarch elected. Even with fair elections they have a lot of support.
There will be an epidemic of falls through windows. It will affect oligarchs and will spare the population. There is a cure: leaving the country after having relinquished all your money to the government.
Oligarchs problem solved.
They’ll try a coup
Only if I’m not fast enough spreading the pandemic
Sounds like how Stalin got his start. “If I just kill this small group of bad people things will be better.”
Oh no, the people who replaced them are corrupt too. Ok, this next wave of executions will surely send the right message.
“The murdering will continue until corruption decreases”
I think it’s a good plan. I either stop corruption or I run out of people (which technically will stop corruption too).
I mean, it kinda worked for him
- Get murdered somewhere around step 4 at the latest
If I were truly thrown into this scenario, my first step would be accepting likely death. Even if you maintain status quo and do no good, you’ll be killed by the next guy in line. There’s nearly no way to both satisfy the current oligarchs and maintain enough power to prevent being replaced by one of them. There is also no way out, as Russia has carried out assassinations in foreign countries. Not that you’d make it onto a plane.
So I really would try to do all that. I’d tell them that whatever force got me there also gave me time to enact failsafes so that, if I disappeared, every property that every Russian billionaire owned would make unexpected contact with drones. Then I’d go ahead and post Putin’s files with every billionaire’s dirt and holdings hoping to start some fires they’d need to put out before coming for me. From there, an aggressive push towards democracy by appealing to the people in the hopes that they’ll back me, which might buy a little extra time.
I think this secures a few hours. They won’t want to move against a complete unknown that suddenly became president. That’s enough to call Biden (allegedly to negotiate US withdrawal from Ukraine in exchange for election interference in Harris’s favor) and send him every bit of data on the military that I could. That might be enough deterrence to buy more time: “the US military knows everything now, so killing me might have consequences.” I’d CC several other NATO members, but for time’s sake Biden is probably the one to call.
Maybe I could get some bodyguards that appear loyal to me, maybe not. But every bit of bluster I could muster, I’d throw it down out the gate, then start trying to fix the country before they call the bluff.
Yeah, I still die quickly, but even a single step towards improvement is worth my life. An easy decision to make when it was forfeit the second I became president. Even if I failed miserably, merely dumping presidential documents would have been worth it. Perhaps it’d get the ball rolling.
Edit: I missed the part where everyone loyal to Putin would be loyal to me. That opens up a ton of space to actually set up these failsafes or move against the oligarchs myself, as well as secure the Kremlin with men more or less actually loyal to me (by wiring them all a million USD on the spot with promise of more). Putin put down a rebellion from one of the most powerful oligarchs, so there might actually be a way to survive long enough to do many of the things on that list. I’d probably not dump the oligarch files and keep that on a disappearance failsafe then proceed mostly the same hoping to generate serious, potentially irreversible momentum before dying.
Fortunately for OP, they didn’t use numbered bullets, so they’re safe!
Regular bullets work just as well, if you happen to fall on one during a quick exit from the upper floor.
What are my goals? The same as Putin?
If yes: continue attrition fighting, but defensively. The goal is to stretch out ukraine losses past the point of western support. Keep offering varying “peace deals” that solidify the capture of oil and gas resources and access to the black sea. Claim the fighting will stop once the Russian territory is liberated (the captured oblasts). In the backroom arrange to let israel to start their middle east ground war, that will distract and drain support from Ukraine. Move the conscript soldiers to the Russian side of the north eastern border with Ukraine. Negotiate to get CIS volunteers as part of the defensive home guard.
If no: pull back troops to very defensive lines across rivers. Dig in. Don’t try to take any territory. Negotiate for return of some territory in exchange for crimea and total access to black sea, settle for crimea and a promise not to join NATO for 20 years.
Focus on energy export pipelines to Europe and China, try to pivot industrial base to post solar future. China is the biggest long term competitor, find a niche that is critical to Chinese interests like oil (negiotate with kz to be sole supplier)
Goal is whatever you want, but keep in mind if you erode your base of support you’ll likely be defenestrated.
In the second scenario, would you opt for less adversarial relations with the West? Would you try to maintain/rebuild the greatness of Russia?
Second scenario Is all about economic health. Can’t pay my cronies if we don’t have money! Russia’s diplomatic past, and its current position, requires an antagonistic relationship. It could be built out so it’s not necessary, but that would take a very long time, more than one generation. However, staged niceness could be negotiated for economic concessions or trade deals. The greatness of Russia would be an exercise in public relations, military victories are not necessary.
Can’t pay my cronies if we don’t have money!
Someone knows their keys to power
Wow, this is my one of my least favorite reincarnation isekai yet
Launch all the nukes for the lulz
Obviously stop the war but after that: Step one, thorough cleaning of public offices. Step two MRUSSRA hats. Step three, no profits.