海角大神

Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin in an published in the online version of Pravda on Thursday, saying the Russian leader uses corruption, repression and violence to rule in his own interest.

鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 believe that human nature at liberty can rise above its weaknesses and build just, peaceful, prosperous societies. Or, at least, he doesn鈥檛 believe Russians can,鈥� wrote Senator McCain.

The Arizona senator and former GOP presidential candidate billed himself as more pro-Russian than the current Moscow regime, saying he was dispelling the falsehoods Russian officials use to stay in power.

McCain focused in particular on Mr. Putin and his associates punishing dissent. The American lawmaker recounted the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who had accused the Moscow government of colluding with organized criminals, then was beaten and denied medical treatment while in prison.

McCain criticized the imprisonment of the rock band Pussy Riot after they were accused of staging an anti-Putin protest inside a Russian Orthodox Church. And he accused Putin of siding with a dictator by backing the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

鈥淗e is not enhancing Russia鈥檚 global reputation. He is destroying it. He has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed, and untrusted by nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world,鈥� wrote McCain.

McCain鈥檚 article was intended as a riposte to an published in The New York Times on Sept. 12. That piece criticized the US for threatening airstrikes against Syria, saying such an attack would be contrary to international law, and insisted the US should not think of itself as an exceptional nation, as 鈥渨e must not forget that God created us equal.鈥�

Putin鈥檚 op-ed stirred up controversy in the US, with some pundits saying his arguments made sense and reflected those made by domestic critics of the Obama administration鈥檚 approach to Syria, while others said that his approach was cynical hypocrisy meant to weaken Washington鈥檚 resolve.

Will McCain鈥檚 piece stir up a similar discussion in Russia? Perhaps not 鈥� as many commentators are noting today, its publishing circumstances were far from similar. The website Pravda.ru on which it appeared is not the same as the newspaper Pravda, which was once the flagship publication of the Soviet Communist Party, though today it has a much smaller reach.

Pravda.ru is a small site founded in 1999. It has English and Russian editions and covers everything from politics to fashion and celebrities, notes CNN.

It鈥檚 not clear if McCain鈥檚 effort was published in the Pravda he wanted.

鈥淲hile editors at the communist Pravda publication said last week they were not going to accept an op-ed by McCain, a spokesman for the senator said McCain submitted one anyway, in addition to [submitting it] to Pravda.ru, since there was confusion over the two different Pravdas. As expected, it was not published by the newspaper,鈥� Thursday.

It鈥檚 still possible that McCain鈥檚 critique of Putin鈥檚 government could go viral, reaching more Russians than the circumstances of its publication would otherwise indicate. Some Russian dissidents were quick to react positively to the US lawmaker鈥檚 article, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an embarrassing moment, when a US senator seems closer to Russians than a Russian Federation Senator,鈥� Pavel Senko, according to RFE/RL.

Meanwhile, a top Russian official was dismissive of McCain, saying that his article did not respond directly to the points raised by Putin in The New York Times. Putin criticized the US for often using force in the international arena, and 鈥淢cCain does not say a word on the issue鈥�, said Alexei Pushkov, head of the State Duma鈥檚 committee for international affairs, according to a .