Putin’s ‘pillars of power’ are being ‘eroded’ | Frontline

“Discontents are absolutely building up and interestingly, amongst a whole bunch of different segments of the population.”

Mark Galeotti says the Kursk invasion means many Russians are “losing faith” in Putin. “There something clearly wrong if part of your territory is under foreign occupation.”

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46 comments

  1. I expect a large proportion of younger russians are quietly fuming over the blanket banning of YouTube across the land. putin won't win any 'popularity votes' there surely?.. Another mobilisation order would also, probably further damage his eroding reputation, causing utter chaos in the process.

  2. I'm really starting to think that Times Radio's coverage of this is just propaganda.

    Let's look at the facts on the ground. Ukraine's Donbas front is collapsing. The Kursk invasion has stalled, and it is difficult to see what strategic advantage that operation had anyhow. Russia is using up manpower at a prodigious rate, but then so is Ukraine and Russia has three times the population. It is Ukraine that is losing the battle of attrition as regards manpower. And then Mark Galeotti talks about Putin and his possible political difficulties. But it is Zelenski who just had to get rid of most of his cabinet.

    I suspect that in a few months this will all be over, with the Ukrainians looking at a very significant defeat. And then Ukraine will be where? A nation smashed to bits. For what? So that the US and the UK can fight the Russians (to the last Ukrainian).

  10. The fact is that … any expert, both in our country and in the West, will confirm this – the Ukrainian army is not capable of using cutting-edge high-precision long-range systems supplied by the West. They cannot do that. These weapons are impossible to employ without intelligence data from satellites which Ukraine does not have. This can only be done using the European Union’s satellites, or US satellites – in general, NATO satellites.

    Therefore, it is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is about deciding whether NATO countries become directly involved in the military conflict or not.

    If this decision is made, it will mean nothing short of direct involvement – it will mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are parties to the war in Ukraine. This will mean their direct involvement in the conflict, and it will clearly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict dramatically.

    This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.

  13. One important factor is that wars are not about guns and men, but about information. One starts a war because do not agree on the strength projection he and his enemy has of each other. So the easiest bloodiest way to know is to test it. Now, once information is released, there is no need to keep going. Now, the fact is that, even when Russia may still keep fighting in Ukraine for 18 months or 5 years (at a slower pace)… it may be that at some time in the past, present or near future, it becomes clear that they can keep fighting but they cannot win. If that happens or has happened, then there is no reason to keep fighting. And given that every month Russia is active in the war they are digging a hole on their future, maybe someone, somewhere, must jump of the window. Even if technically the war could go on for some years yet.

  16. When the cold comes and infrastructure fails again (as it did last year), it will be interesting to see how the public accept their situation. Ukraine has a reason to suffer hardship but russians?

  17. Not living up to his social contract? His losses are 10 x the US losses in ten years in Vietnam. TEN Vietnams. He's taken out 25% (kia and wounded) of the 18-30 year olds in the entire Russian Federation. Yeah, I'd say he's not living up to his social contract. He's nothing more than the head criminal in a burning mob run gas station.

  20. Don't be so sure about Putin's position among the Elite, as you call the Russian criminals AKA oligarchs. Don't forget who had made them so. It was Putin himself who had created the oligarchs. Thus, if he wishes, he can recreate them now, but the other way round, ha ha ha!

  24. Russian pay and pensions are actually growing faster than inflation and unemployment is negligible. Added to this millions of mortgages are state subsidised, insulating borrowers from interest rates. Russia is currently experiencing a blue collar bonanza and Galeotti really needs to get his facts straight.

  26. Putin is the old ram with his horns tangled in the fence. 🐏 He is sending the young rams to their death for his stubbornness.

  28. Even at this late date, I feel it is a bit of a stretch to say, Ukraine holding Russian land works to Ukraine’s disadvantage.

  34. The same channel that said, they are running out of missiles, they are running out of missiles, they are running out of missiles. Putin is dying of cancer, Putin is dying of cancer, now you are saying an 80% popular President is weak…… really?

  35. It’s a Counter Offensive, to call Ukraine’s action in Kursk an invasion
    or an incursion is foolish and inaccurate. It’s ignorant and biased.

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