Putin has become so isolated during the pandemic that he no longer meets friends for 'drinks and barbecues,' a Russian journalist said

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost interest in the present and is obsessed with the past, according to an essay by a Russian journalist.

The author of "All The Kremlin's Men", a book about Putin's inner circle, is the former editor in chief of the independent Russian TV News channel Dozhd.

In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Zygar wrote that his sources close to the Russian President said that he is annoyed by issues of the present like the economy, social issues, and the coronaviruses.

The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was Germany. It is time for Russia to avenge the humiliations of the 1990s now that she is gone.

According to Zygar, Putin's aides have been trying to convince him that he is the only one who can save Russia, and that he doesn't trust the people around him.

In the past, Putin has met with friends and advisors for drinks and barbeques, but now he is cut off from most of his team. Some of Putin's closest aides have to stay out of the public eye for two or three weeks in order to get a meeting with the president.

News reports in September 2020 suggested that Putin put a special tunnel in place for visitors to pass through in order to visit him during the COVID-19 epidemic.

His decision to surround himself with sycophants and ideologues helped bring Europe to its most dangerous moment since World War II, because of his deep belief that Russian domination over Ukraine must be restored.