Some years ago, I lived on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, one of the wide, radial roads that leads into central Moscow — and the favoured route of President Vladimir Putin’s motorcade to the Kremlin. Putin never liked travelling in helicopters so the 18-vehicle extravaganza, including outriders, an ambulance and a string of gleaming, black limousines with tinted glass, was a familiar sight. Around 45 minutes before it passed, the road would be sealed — and I mean sealed. A security man was stationed in the doorway of my apartment building preventing residents from leaving. The Russian president has always been security conscious,...