Vladimir Putin waged war in Ukraine nine months ago and doesn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon. That appears to be the case even if he loses his entire army after advising them to stuff tampons in bullet wounds to stop the bleeding. Because I cannot resist a touch of dark comedy, I imagine the Russia president soothing himself with Botox, so that no one can see his cry face, but on a more serious note, analysts believe that Putin’s sitting at a more “vulnerable” stage than ever before now, so we can expect some wild maneuvers from him. That’s especially the case because he fears being killed for losing this war, but also, he simply does not want to admit defeat.
As CNBC reports, September appears to have been a turning point for Putin’s state of mind. That’s according to R.Politik founder/non resident Carnegie scholar Tatiana Stanovaya, who declared, “From the moment on 24th of February, Putin launched this war, he has become more vulnerable than he has ever been.” From there, Stanovaya believes, “I don’t see a scenario where he could be a winner,” and “we can say that he is politically doomed.” Additionally, a political scientist pointed out that Putin won’t give up until Russia’s forcibly ejected from Ukraine:
“The very fact that Russia is still waging this war, despite its apparent defeats in March [when its forces withdrew from Kyiv], indicate that Putin is desperate to not lose. Losing is not an option for him,” Ilya Matveev, a political scientist and academic formerly based in St. Petersburg, told CNBC on Monday.
How long will this continue? There’s no telling, but I’m crossing fingers for the Ukrainian grandmas to hop into those abandoned Russian tanks while wielding Molotov cocktails to get the job done. Either that, or Putin’s troops will finally follow through with blowing up their leadership. That’s morbid, but so is war.
(Via CNBC)