Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 70 on Friday, but he is going through the most difficult phase of his life. The Russian army is facing a humiliating defeat in Ukraine. Thousands of Russians are leaving the country and their own top allies publicly insulting military leaders after his announcement to recruit new troops. Putin’s every bet seems to be going blank and he is constantly hinting that he may even use nuclear weapons to protect the Russian advance in Ukraine.
This horrifying threat is contrary to his promise of stability, which he has consistently claimed during the last 22 years of his rule. Andrei Kolesnikov, senior researcher at the Carnegie Endowment, said: “It’s a really difficult time for him (Putin), but he can’t blame anyone else for it.”
They have done it themselves and are heading towards a much bigger problem. He says that by waging war against Ukraine since World War II, he has launched Europe’s biggest military conflict, and thus Putin has broken the unwritten social contract that the Russians had strategically agreed to. He said that the Russians were believed to have agreed to renounce political independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in exchange for prosperity and internal peace.
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Journalist Mikhail Geiger, who has been in constant touch with Kremlin elites and authored a book on Putin, underlined that the attack on Ukraine had shocked not only the public but those close to Putin. “All of them were stunned, no one wanted to see a situation in which they were going to lose everything,” Geiger said. Now everyone’s hands are stained with blood and they know they can’t escape it.”
Stanislav Belkowski, a longtime political adviser and close liaison with the ruling class, called the attack on Ukraine “self-destructive” for Putin. He said it was “disastrous for his power and also for the Russian Federation.” Significantly, due to the lack of a properly organized attack, there is a situation of panic in the Russian army on a large scale. The Russian military is struggling to supply essential supplies to newly recruited soldiers, many have been asked to buy medical kits on their own and are forced to sleep on the ground before heading to the front. (agency)