On Oct. 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin turns 65. As of this year, this is the maximum retirement age for Russian civil servants, which can only be raised in special cases. Though Putin, as an elected official, is not subject to this law and has indicated that it’s too early for him to retire, he reaches this milestone in a surprisingly vulnerable position.
Putin’s vulnerability would be hard to pinpoint if officials weren’t pointing to it with their clumsy actions. Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption activist who would like to run for president against Putin in next year’s election, planned a rally in St.