Within Russia, the war has come under growing criticism as Ukraine has ramped up strikes inside the country and Russian casualties keep growing … These deadly attacks are a ‘sign of desperation’ as Putin is realising he might not win the war.
Here is an Invidious alt for the video (4 min) inside the linked article.
I wonder if Putin realizes he is making history as one of russia’s dumbest leaders who threw away the nation’s future?
Or does he still believe he hasn’t missed the optimum moment to end the war by miles and miles and now he is desperately looking for road signs long gone?
I guess we ordinary Joes (and Jills) can’t understand what’s in the heads of the so-called world leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and others. Not because they are so bright (I doubt they even reach the average), but because they have been surrounding themselves for decades with yay sayers only, while everyone with even a slightly different opinion has long (been?) gone. They completely lost touch with the world in my opinion.
Winnie the Pooh actually seems competent. An unmitigated, spherical SOB, but competent.
WinnieXinnie the Pooh actually seems competent. An unmitigated, spherical SOB, but competent.Putin seemed like one of the most competent and wily world leaders from 2000 to early 2022.
No, the oppression of free speech made him look weak and stupid from the start.
Winnie the poo has spent that 15 years taking out any threats to his rule. All that is left are yes men. It’s reported that he didn’t know about the rolling blackouts China was experiencing several years ago until someone from a US delegation asked him about them.
He’s killed the messenger soo many times that no one wants deliver the message let alone advise him on the best course of action. He may be smart with good political skills but he can’t be an expert on everything.
He’s just a continuation of the Tsar’s expansionist policy as well as treating the population as disposable. I don’t know if that makes him the dumbest, Russia has had some pretty horrendous leaders.
This is all opinion and I may be misinformed, so take it with a grain of salt.
It is really sad when you think about how the beginning of the new millennium seemed an optimistic time in Russia when the economy was starting to pick up—albeit mostly in the wealthier western cities—but then Crimea happens and the recovery stalls under global sanctions. He should’ve got the message at that point, but no. He’s such a cold warrior. He can’t see any way for Russia to grow other than through conquest and putting in puppet governments everywhere.
And the worst part is now, he has no incentive to end this war. It’s the only thing that’s keeping him alive. Ending it would be political suicide, and failed leaders tend to have a very short life expectancy. So he’s all paranoid and bunkered up. Actually, not even paranoid. He really does have reason to fear for his life.
I think the one thing you got wrong is that the invasion of Crimea was a response to economic troubles, not the cause of it.
Russia spent ten years doing what the IMF said, which was essentially implementing Reaganomics. That could not work for the same reasons as it didn’t work in the Western world, long term. But short term, after Putin took power, it started generating results. Privatization led to industrial resurgence and a generally favorable climate for fossil fuels pumped money into the economy.
After ten years, it was becoming painfully obvious that Russia was rich, but Russians started to be poor. So Putin started blaming NATO, the EU, and the West in general for hardship, like all fascists do when they are running out of excuses.
Invading Crimea was a way to give Russians a reason to suffer through the economic pain. Just like in current America, the economic pain could not be fixed, because the oligarchs were sucking up all the money. It may be a little more complicated than that, as the Crimea invasion was also a crime of opportunity, after Ukraine had shaken off a Russian puppet government.
Ok fair enough. But Crimea did not seem to improve the situation for Russia. Like sanctions aside, taking the most pro-Russia-polling part of the country out of the electorate would obviously swing the remainder in a pro-European direction, but he doesn’t seem to understand how democracy works?
I am not sure Putin understands that democracy works, at all. He seems to think it’s just a formality on the way to getting what he wants. A nice flourish for simple minds that believe in hogwash like “equality” and “freedom”. Whatever those words mean. Eye roll.
We’ll be okay when Steiner cuts off the red army!
These people are narcissists, they cannot think otherwise than exclusively of themselves. Putin will continue until his, probably forced, demise.
Or so is my prediction (this year? Maybe/high probability).
(My english sucks this morning, it’s the heatwave, sorry).