Putin increasingly isolated in his own government, growing increasingly desperate

[Rampage]

In previous year's end Putin has held an extended news conference. In 2022 that engagement was canceled.

... Putin is increasingly isolated: "He doesn't like speaking with people anyway. He has a very narrow circle, and now it has gotten narrower still."

Tatyana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told The Post that many in Russia's elite are starting to lose faith in their leader because he is "incapable of giving answers to questions."

One Russian official, who was not named, told The Post: "How can [Putin] tell us everything is going to plan, when we are already in the 10th month of the war, and we were told it was only going to take a few days."

Putin's inner circle is frustrated because the Russian president 'doesn't know what to do' with war in Ukraine, report says

Putin does not have a plan for the Ukraine war and is becoming increasingly isolated, sources told The Washington Post.

www.businessinsider.com

Wild animals are more dangerous when cornered.
Will Putin's losing war in Ukraine result in a heightened "nothing left to lose" desperation? How will that affect Putin's willingness to more strongly consider first use of nuclear weapons?

Perhaps unnoticed by some, EurAsian Times reports:
Russia Adds ‘Unrivaled’ Nuclear-Powered Missile Cruisers To Its Arsenal; Putin Says Has No Analogs In The World

And Putin has launched his latest nuclear submarine 'Emperor Alexander III' as part of Russia's new fleet.

Is the West handling Putin adequately?
Is it time to set Putin down in a chair and explain the hopelessness of his situation in Ukraine?

 

[Shiftless2]

Wild animals are more dangerous when cornered.

No question. And while I wouldn't necessarily use the term "wild animal" when describing Putin I would say the same thing applies to someone like him.

 

[sear]

I wouldn't necessarily use the term "wild animal" when describing Putin

You think Putin hasn't earned the dignity we reflexively accord muskrats and rattlesnakes?

I think R #1 is clanging the gong here. If Putin internalizes Russia's failure in Ukraine, his perception may not merely be that the war failed, but that Putin personally failed. That's a kind of desperation that might reasonably be expected to drive an ethicless man like Putin to extreme. And how much more extreme can it get than Russia's total military arsenal?

Is the West handling Putin adequately?
Is it time to set Putin down in a chair and explain the hopelessness of his situation in Ukraine?

Interesting point R1. As you present it, the survival of humanity may depend on the West making Putin an offer he'll accept. That doesn't mean overrule Ukraine's legitimate sovereign territorial claim.

- Putin KNOWS he's losing domestic support.
- Putin knows one common way for authoritarians to unify their nation's support is to present the external world as malevolent, aggressive, dangerous. Putin has enough KGB experience to know how to arrange that. I'm surprised Putin hasn't already tried it. Perhaps he knows it can / would be recognized by the West and acted upon as a casius belli. I think Putin likes his wars one nation at a time.

 

[sear]

Former Putin aide: Coup a ‘real possibility’ by Stephen Neukam - 01/31/23 ​

A former speechwriter for Russian President Vladimir Putin predicted that a military coup was possible for the country in the next year, pointing to a deteriorating economy and the growing unpopularity of the war in Ukraine.
Abbas Gallyamov, Putin’s former speechwriter who is now a political commentator, said the Russian president could be facing a rising tide of opposition at home as the war wears on, in an interview with CNN.

“The Russian economy is deteriorating,” Gallyamov said. “The war is lost. There are more and more dead bodies returning to Russia, so Russians will be coming across more difficulties and they’ll be trying to find explanation why this is happening, looking around to the political process and they’ll be answering themselves: ‘Well, this is because our country is governed by an old tyrant, an old dictator.’”
And as people confront this reality, Gallyamov argues, “a military coup will become possible.”

The country is scheduled to hold a presidential election in 2024, but Gallyamov said he thinks there is a possibility that Putin cancels the elections in the face of the war.

Former Putin aide: Coup a ‘real possibility’

A former speechwriter for Russian President Vladimir Putin predicted that a military coup was possible for the country in the next year, pointing to a deteriorating economy and the growing unpopula…

thehill.com

Putin is viewed in the West as the linchpin of the War in Ukraine.
Speculation on Putin's being removed from power bears the appearance of Western wishful thinking, rather than a statistical probability.

Part of the problem is, if Putin leaves office, another Russian is likely to replace him. Medvedev is included on that short-list.
There's a significant risk Putin's replacement will be as bad, or worse.

 

[sear]

"You also have said, and tell me if this is correct, that it was only a group of about 3 or 4 people around Vladimir Putin who knew that he [Putin] was actually planning the invasion." CBS-TV Face the Nation Margaret Brennan 23/02/26
"Um hm. Right. I think that's true. ... Putin had narrowed his circle of advisors. And it was a circle in which he prized loyalty over competence. It was a group of people who tended to tell him [Putin] what he wanted to hear. That was one of the deepest flaws I think in the Russian decision-making just before the War. It was such a closed circle of people. Reinforcing one another's profoundly mistaken assumptions." United States Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns on CBS-TV Face the Nation 23/02/26

Pretty much what I figured.
Reports from Russia's front line troops include complaints that some of these front line Russian troops don't even know who their commanding officer is.

If Putin selected for loyalty to Putin instead of competence it may help explain Russia's dismal battlefield performance.

 

[sear]

PS:
The link to the Director Burns interview: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/william-burns-cia-director-face-the-nation-transcript-02-26-2023/

 

[sear]

Ukrayinska Pravda

Russians recruit young Palestinians to fight against Ukraine​

Russia is recruiting young Palestinians and also looks for Syrians to involve them in the war against Ukraine; about 300 people have already been sent to the combat zone. Source: The Media Line news agency, citing sources; Radio Liberty Quote: "A Lebanese government security source tells TML that young Palestinian men are being paid 350 USD per month to enlist in the Russian military, while elite Syrian troops are also being recruited in a display of loyalty for aid in the civil war." Details: The recruitment effort is being carried out by activists affiliated with the Palestinian embassy in Lebanon.

Russians recruit young Palestinians to fight against Ukraine

Russia is recruiting young Palestinians and also looks for Syrians to involve them in the war against Ukraine; about 300 people have already been sent to the combat zone. Source: The Media Line news agency, citing sources; Radio Liberty Quote: "A Lebanese government security source tells TML...

news.yahoo.com

 

[sear]

A Russian general who was critical of the army's operation was found dead​

Sebastian Cahill / Sun, November 19, 2023 at 1:42 AM EST

• A decorated Russian general and his wife were found dead at his home.

• The general, Vladimir Sviridov, was critical of soldier training in the Russian military.
• He's the latest in a series of critics of the Russian establishment found inexplicably dead.

Another member of the Russian military was found dead under unknown circumstances this week.
Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov, 68, and his wife Tatyana, 72, were found dead Wednesday in their bedroom, per the Kyiv Post. They looked to have been dead for about a week prior to their discovery, according to the Post.

A Russian general who was critical of the army's operation was found dead

The general and his wife were not found for days as they lay in their bed.

news.yahoo.com

Many that have displeased Putin die or disappear. That's Putin government military & civilian subordinates, journalists and perhaps other critics.

Putin tried to poison Navalny, but now has him languishing in prison, neutralized as a Putin regime critic. Not sure why Putin would murder Sviridov, but not Navalny.

It does seem Putin is increasingly following Stalin's ruthless model.