It boasts a replica of the ‘Tsar Bomba’, the most powerful nuclear bomb ever tested, slick presentation stands extolling the virtues of four Ukrainian regions Russia says it has annexed, and artwork lionising the Russian army in Ukraine. After organisers said over 18 million people had flocked to Moscow ’s “Russia” exhibition in eight months, making it one of the top 10 visited places on the planet, President Vladimir Putin has decreed it will become a permanent landmark. Originally conceived as a temporary Kremlin-backed project designed to fuel patriotism and promote the authorities’ view of Russia’s past, present and future, Putin, on his fifth visit to the exhibition on Monday, told an audience there: “We have things to show off, we have things to be proud of, but that’s not all.
It’s also important to present it all with talent and beauty. We need to create the conditions to show what the country is doing, how it is living, and what we need to achieve. That’s why.
.. we’ve agreed to set up a national centre.
” The move is emblematic of a drive by Putin to unite Russians behind him at a time of war when the Kremlin is promoting a single, strong patriotic narrative and punishing those who dissent from it. Critics have been branded “foreign agents” or extremists, and some have been handed long jail terms for discrediting the armed forces or spreading “fake news” about the war. The “Russia” exhibition opened its doors in the run-up to the .
