Just this week the Kremlin claimed it was at war with the United States and Putin’s No.1 enemy was found dead in prison. Russians are terrified about what’s next.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman informed Russians this week that the “special military operation” that Putin launched in Ukraine in February 2022 was set to go on much longer because it is now “a war against the collective West.”

That’s right: a war.

It was remarkable to hear that word from Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Journalists were explicitly banned from using it as the invasion began and thousands of Russians have been detained, fined and imprisoned for telling the truth about a war which has now been raging for almost two years.

“Moscow deputy Aleksey Gorinov was sentenced to seven years in prison for saying ‘war,’” Sergey Davidis, head of the Political Prisoners Support group, told The Daily Beast. He said over 20,000 Russians have now been detained and punished for protesting against the war. “That includes 131 Russians who have been sentenced to long prison terms in punishment for peaceful or for more radical anti-war actions,” he said. “I don’t think punishments against the war will now be milder after the Kremlin openly says ‘war.’ Putin will be next to declare it.”

  • taanegl@lemmy.worldEnglish
    72·
    9 months ago

    TL;DR he is no mental giant, as evident. Hindsight is 20:20.

    First of all he, like a buffoons, he thought Ukraine would lay down flat. Problem? The Russian soldiers were sent by a bunch of nationalistic oligarchs. Ukrainian soldiers defend their right to exist as a culture, as a people. Who do you think is more motivated?

    Secondly, I think Xi Jinpeng must be quietly facepalming him self. BRICS just got a kick in the balls, and that’s because Putin was cocky and horny for being a centerpiece in the history books. Putin should really just sized up a new leader, groomed and installed them, retired and smiled as a footnote in the history books.

    Instead, he wanted to be grand, and put BRICS in the cross hairs like 5-10 years before it would be smart to do so. Legitimising it now and surplanting the need for SWIFT is a tall order, especially since other nations, geo-political powers and non-governmental organizations have started to mobilize against it - policy wise. Uh oh, US NATO imperialism intensifies, to the detriment of BRICS adoption.

    So yeah, he might not be “dumb” dumb, but he is no master chess player, that’s for sure. In fact, I’ll wager he pulls off a stupid enough move up trigger war throughout Europe, a no-win scenario where Russia loses land in the end. Some because they have been neglected for decades, and others because of shared history with other nation states. Certain parts of Eurasia is looking like a fat ol’ peach to Xi right about now, I’ll tell you that much.

    Remember: nobody really wants war, not even Putin. That’s not productive, really. If the war turns inwards, the whole political house of cards may fall down. That’s why he postured to begin with, and why China doesn’t “take land”, but assimilates like a fine oiled machine. They’re both trying for “reunification” with other states, but one struggles a bit more than the other.