In the 1990s, Russian political consultants were seen as kingmakers — savvy operatives who could sway voters and win competitive elections. They helped bring Vladimir Putin to power and crafted the campaign for United Russia, now the country’s ruling party. But as the system they built tightened its grip on elections, it no longer had much use for them. Meduza special correspondent Andrey Pertsev traces how Russia’s political consultants went from shaping the country’s future to struggling for relevance — and explains the Kremlin’s latest plans to repurpose them as “social architects,” now that the very regime they helped create has rendered them obsolete.