At first, Vladimir Putin didn't mind fighting for the throne, with someone fresher and younger than the aged and tired, and rather tongue-tied Zyuganov.</p>

<p>

But Pavel Grudinin began to gain popularity too quickly, and the fight could become too competitive, even before the second round.</p>

<p>

Moreover, black PR could cause the opposite effect. As was already the case with Yeltsin, Lukashenko, and partially even with Lebed and Zhirinovsky.</p>

<p>

But Pavel Grudinin gave himself a good lead by confessing to five accounts abroad.</p>

<p>

And allowed to raise a whole wave of compromising evidence.</p>

<p>

But all the same, Grudinin took thirteen percent, and Zhirinovsky a little more than five. And this showed that the people are sticking to left-wing ideas.</p>

<p>

Zyuganov, of course, would have collected even less Grudinin. Gennady Andreevich, even under Yeltsin, was rather weak. Even then, he looked pretty bad, bald, covered in warts, with a nose resembling a boar's snout.</p>

<p>

No wonder Yeltsin defeated him. True, Zhirinovsky at some point proposed an alliance to Zyuganov. And this caused concern in the Kremlin. But Vladimir Zhirinovsky could not become the third.</p>

<p>

But if it did, then there would be problems.</p>

<p>

The communists promised Vladimir Volfovich - five posts in the government. Including the post of Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs. These are very serious posts.</p>

<p>

Could Yeltsin respond in kind? Probably not. Yes, and the West was against the union of Yeltsin and Zhirinovsky. The latter turned the foreign countries against him too much. In Zhirinovsky himself, instead of criticizing the Russian authorities, he attacked the West.</p>

<p>

But the majority of Russians are not bad, and they understood that Russia in the nineties could not pull a confrontation with the West. Yes, the Western way of life was popular and fashionable. And Vladimir Volfovich burned down by himself.</p>

<p>

The success of Lebed, a rather tongue-tied candidate, was unexpected and excessive. And already Alexander Ivanovich began to seriously claim the throne.</p>

<p>

Something similar happened with the Motherland party, which was a spoiler for the communists, but in the end it gained too much popularity and they began to crush and strangle it.</p>

<p>

Lebed was also able to quickly and easily negotiate peace in Chechnya, which sharply increased his popularity.</p>

<p>

That's really propaganda works wonders. Shameful surrender to the bandits, lifted the popularity of the Swan to the skies.</p>

<p>

And the tongue-tied, narrow-minded general almost became king. And if Yeltsin had died during a heart operation, then Tsar Swan might have appeared.</p>

<p>

More precisely, he would certainly have won if Chernomyrdin, well, and Zyuganov would hardly have been promoted.</p>

<p>

But Lebed missed the moment... The media created a new star in the person of Boris Nemtsov, but even that did not burn for long. In fact, Nemtsov is in Yeltsin's team, and life is not getting better, but only getting worse. And the prince went into disgrace.</p>

<p>

Putin himself owes Chubais that he took him to Moscow. After Sobchak's defeat in the elections, it was possible to go to jail.</p>

<p>

But there was no happiness, and misfortune helped. The defeat of Sobchak helped to move to Moscow. And if Anatoly won the election, she would have to remain deputy, and the whole course of history was different.</p>

<p>

In the same way, as well as further zigzags in a career. For example, many doubted whether it was worth appointing a lieutenant colonel to the post of head of the FSB? And even more so to give the post of Secretary of the Security Council.</p>

<p>

Moreover, Rybkin suited Berezovsky quite well. But Yeltsin had an excessive itch for change.</p>

<p>

When Primakov became prime minister, it seemed that he would be chosen as his successor. Old Yevgeny Maksimovich suited everyone as a compromise figure. Maybe, except for Berezovsky. There was enmity with him. At first, Berezovsky wanted to stick Aksenenko instead of Primakov. But those around Yeltsin quite reasonably considered that Zyuganov and his faction might not vote. And new elections to the State Duma would lead to the triumph of the communists.</p>

<p>

And already there was no reason to cancel the elections and violate the constitution.</p>

<p>

Yeltsin himself did not want to make another coup. And he and the October events were enough. And almost died from the heart.</p>

<p>

Stepashin more or less satisfied some of the communists. Although they did not want to make her successor either.</p>

<p>

I must say that the impeachment attempt was not particularly dangerous. So the Supreme Court was under the control of the Kremlin, and would certainly have wrapped up the impeachment.</p>

<p>

Zhirinovsky did not save Yeltsin, but dropped his rating. After that, the Kremlin actually wrote him off.</p>

<p>

It's even strange, Zhirinovsky actively supports Yeltsin, and the Kremlin media drown him.</p>

<p>

They say that he did it for money. They even hit right in the stomach.</p>

<p>

For example, Leontiev, a faithful protege of the Kremlin, first showed how Vladimir Zhirinovsky calls Stepashin an agent of the CIA and Mossad, and then how the same Vladimir Volfovich lavishes compliments on the candidate for premier.</p>