title: MMM for VVP
abstract: Abstract Putin’s leadership is constructed through media. This chapter explores the key points in the development of the Kremlin-controlled media machine, including the key actors, central mechanisms, and the dominant ideological frames. The chapter makes an argument that the media machine evolved in response to arising political challenges such as Ukraine’s 2004 “Orange revolution,” the 2011–2012 public protests in Russia, and the new standoff with the West after the 2014 annexation of Crimea.