No, not the old Communist Party newspaper, which has a very small circulation and nobody reads anymore.

This is an electronic media outlet with both English and Russian language editions. And while telling mostly the truth about Putin, McCain didn't really push for a Syrian bombing campaign.

CNN:

In an opinion piece titled "Russians Deserve Better Than Putin," published by the Russian news website Pravda.ru, McCain took aim at the current Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin.

"They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media," the Arizona Republican said in his piece.

The piece by McCain comes one week after Vladimir Putin made headlines by publishing his own opinion piece, "A Plea for Caution from Russia" in the New York Times, on the eve of U.S. - Russia negotiations over Syrian chemical weapons.

The senator, who does not support same-sex marriage in the U.S., also criticized Russia's recently passed anti-gay legislation, saying Russian lawmakers "codify bigotry against people whose sexual orientation they condemn."

A ban on the promotion of "gay propaganda" among minors became law in June, as Putin began his third term as president.

[...]

In his piece, McCain also cited Putin's support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as Russia's recent actions in the United Nations as an example of failed foreign policies, saying, "He is not enhancing Russia's global reputation. He is destroying it."

The senator has been a strong advocate for military action against Syria, especially in light of the August 21 chemical weapons attack, and has been highly critical of the renewed diplomatic efforts between Russia and the U.S. This week, he told the Council of Foreign Relations, "I wish I could see the recent agreement between Russia and the United States to rid the Assad regime of its chemical weapons as a major breakthrough. Unfortunately, I cannot."

In the article, McCain focused his message on their day-to-day circumstances, arguing that Putin "has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on a few natural resources that will rise and fall with those commodities. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few."

The article comes off more as a rant against Putin. However, most of the Russian people don't need to be told what a boorish thug Putin is. McCain might have added that Putin also assassinates journalists and trumps up bogus charges against rivals in order to get them out of the way. He meddles in the politics of neighbors, while enabling the worst regimes in the world by running diplomatic interference for them at the UN.

Putin could care less what McCain thinks of him. All he cares about is winning - something he is well on the way to doing thanks to the incompetence of the Obama administration.