Within Russia, the war has come under growing criticism as Ukraine has ramped up strikes inside the country and Russian casualties keep growing … These deadly attacks are a ‘sign of desperation’ as Putin is realising he might not win the war.
Here is an Invidious alt for the video (4 min) inside the linked article.
Ok fair enough. But Crimea did not seem to improve the situation for Russia. Like sanctions aside, taking the most pro-Russia-polling part of the country out of the electorate would obviously swing the remainder in a pro-European direction, but he doesn’t seem to understand how democracy works?
I am not sure Putin understands that democracy works, at all. He seems to think it’s just a formality on the way to getting what he wants. A nice flourish for simple minds that believe in hogwash like “equality” and “freedom”. Whatever those words mean. Eye roll.