Crossword Genius

Mild Russian leader embracing Eastern Time (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lenient

'mild' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'russian leader embracing eastern time' is the wordplay.
'russian leader' becomes 'lenin' (I've seen this in another clue).
'embracing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'eastern' becomes 'e'.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'lenin' placed around 'e' is 'lenien'.
'lenien'+'t'='LENIENT'

(Other definitions for lenient that I've seen before include "Tolerant, rather than strict" , "Mild and tolerant" , "Tolerant, merciful" , "'Indulgent, easy (7)'" , "Forbearing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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