Putin Can No Longer Hide His Catastrophe

Phillips Payson O’Brien: “Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried for more than four years to protect the population of Moscow from the consequences of his invasion of Ukraine. Festivals and other events have gone on much as they did before, and the effects of supply shortages in the capital have been limited. Even though more than 1 million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded, the government has apparently avoided enlisting too many from Moscow or St. Petersburg, preferring to take its cannon fodder from faraway Russian imperial possessions.

“But Putin can no longer lull Muscovites into thinking that his war does not involve them. Earlier this month, the annual parade commemorating the defeat of Germany in World War II was startlingly short and devoid of most of the usual military hardware, because the Russian dictator was terrified of Ukrainian drone attacks. A week later, Ukraine launched hundreds of drones and cruise missiles on the Russian capital. The action, an audacious counterstrike to a mass Russian attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities two days earlier, showed that multiple rings of air defense around Moscow have been thoroughly compromised. The narrative that Putin has constructed—about a mere ‘special military operation’ that need not trouble Russia’s elites or middle class—is now unraveling completely. Any pretense that Moscow itself can stay out of the war has vanished.”

Read more: [https://theatln.tc/WRBT48Ga](https://theatln.tc/WRBT48Ga)

This was really the only possible outcome.

First – Russia was never going to take away the Ukrainian need for independence, so even if they had crushed Ukraine in those first few days they would still be fighting an asymmetric war. The fact that they didn’t has significantly shortened the time for Ukraine to achieve a peaceful independence.

Second – The invasion was Putin’s idea. He’s not going to live forever.

Third – Once Russians started to see through the propaganda Putin’s life expectancy was going to shorten dramatically. Even a crushed populace has some dignity and common sense.

My only sorrow is that Trump’s actions have all prolonged this inevitable conclusion. Hundreds of thousands of people have been needlessly killed or maimed, and billions of dollars of useful infrastructure destroyed because of Trump’s man-crush on Putin.

If Harris had been elected she would have listened to the experts, ramped up aid to Ukraine, and forced the issue at the Kremlin. Putin would be gone, one way or another, and Russia would be suing for peace.