{"id":169,"date":"2026-05-27T04:17:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T04:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=169"},"modified":"2026-05-27T04:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T04:17:57","slug":"putin-on-the-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=169","title":{"rendered":"Putin on the Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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R<\/span>ussian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s war of aggression against Ukraine is spinning out of his control.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Is Blowing Up the Majority? What Majority?<\/a><\/p>\n

The Russian army reached a dismal milestone this spring. For the first time since October 2024, Russian forces experienced a net loss of territory in April, losing 45 square miles of land. Given that Ukrainian drones and robotic warfare had already been slashing Russian gains to pitiful numbers, it was a gloomy finding amid already bleak results.\u00a0(RELATED: Ukraine Is Making Putin\u2019s Life Miserable in Africa As Well)<\/strong><\/p>\n

By all accounts, the Russian war effort has not gone any better in May. According to an Institute for the Study of War report published Monday, Russian troops continue to fail to \u201cmake operationally significant advances,\u201d owing in particular to Ukraine\u2019s drone dominance and mid-range strike campaign.<\/p>\n

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The Ukrainian drone threat has become so great that Putin decided he could not risk displaying his tanks and super-missiles during his May 9 Victory Day parade.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Of particular threat to Putin\u2019s war machine is Ukraine\u2019s recently gained ability to target Moscow with drone attacks. This has disrupted Putin\u2019s careful illusion that the Russian homeland is unaffected by the war and rattled Russian citizens who had viewed the war as a distant adventure. In May, three people died in Moscow after a massive Ukrainian drone barrage targeted an oil refinery.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian drone threat has become so great that Putin decided he could not risk displaying his tanks and super-missiles during his May 9 Victory Day parade. Moreover, he begged President Donald Trump to arrange a temporary ceasefire so the parade could proceed in this diminished state. It is hard to overstate just how embarrassing this is for Putin. The Victory Day parade is one of the most consequential events on the Russian calendar, and it is Putin\u2019s marquee method of propagandizing his military to the Russian people. This year, all the parade communicated was that Putin cannot keep even Moscow safe. He had to cry to Trump just to march Russian troops through his capital.\u00a0(RELATED: Putin\u2019s Stalemate, Trump\u2019s Moment)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis represents a huge blow to his credibility,\u201d said Peter Dickinson, who runs the magazine UkraineAlert<\/em>.<\/p>\n

According to the Financial Times<\/em>, Chinese President Xi Jinping even told Trump during his trip to China this month that Putin would regret his invasion of Ukraine. A spokesman for China\u2019s foreign ministry later denied\u00a0the report.<\/p>\n

It appears that Russians are picking up on the failures of the Russian war effort and turning against their president and his war, which has now lasted longer than it took for the Soviets to help defeat the Nazis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overall mood is that\u2019s enough already; you\u2019ve been fighting for long enough,\u201d one anonymous Russian official told the Washington Post<\/em>. \u201cIt seems to everyone that it\u2019s been going on for longer than World War II, the Great Patriotic War \u2014 and at the same time we can\u2019t even take one region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consternation is especially growing over the state of the economy.<\/p>\n

According to Russia\u2019s Federal Statistics Service, the economy contracted by 1.8 percent during the first two months of this year. This is a result primarily driven by international sanctions, high interest rates imposed to combat inflation related to the war, and a labor shortage spurred by Russia\u2019s battlefield losses. Economist Vladimir Milov, who previously served as Russia\u2019s deputy minister of energy, has warned that a recession, inflation, and a budgetary crisis could combine together this year to create an \u201cunholy trinity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state of the economy has led Russia\u2019s financial elite to speak up in unusually strong terms. The Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0reported that at an economic forum in Moscow this April, businessmen and economists \u201cupbraided the government over the shrinking economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Spectator P.M. Ep. 217: The Surprising Factor Behind the World\u2019s Population Crisis<\/a><\/p>\n

For instance, Robert Nigmatulin, an economist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told forum attendees that Russia\u2019s economy was lagging behind China\u2019s and that inflation was stopping economic growth. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost everything and still we are the poorest. Even in the poorest regions of China incomes are higher than in our poorest regions,\u201d Nigmatulin said. \u201cGDP growth since 2015 \u2014 that\u2019s 11 years \u2014 is about 1.5 percent per year. Do you know how much consumer prices have increased by? Seventy-seven percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, a Russian politician warned in a speech in Parliament that \u201ceconomic collapse is inevitable\u201d if the problems were not properly addressed.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian attacks are also having a direct economic effect. Drone attacks on ports and oil refineries caused Russia to massively slash oil production, diminishing economic gains Russia could have made from higher oil prices following the U.S. attack on Iran.<\/p>\n

Dissatisfaction has also been acute over growing internet restrictions, especially over the Russian government\u2019s decision to block Telegram, which had been an incredibly popular social media site in Russia. Young people are foremost among those upset by the government\u2019s interference in their use of the internet.<\/p>\n

Journalist Farida Rustamova reported this spring, \u201cThe crackdown on the internet is causing noticeable discontent not only among ordinary Russians but also among officials \u2014 including senior ones \u2014 and large businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polls in Russia are necessarily skewed by civilians\u2019 fear of the government, but even these have given Putin warning signs in recent months.<\/p>\n

A poll published last month by the Levada Center found that only 27 percent of Russians wish to continue the war against Ukraine. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said they wish to pursue peace talks with Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The largest state-owned pollster in Russia additionally reported this spring that Putin\u2019s approval rating had fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of the war, reaching 65.6 percent.<\/p>\n

Putin has another problem on the horizon: recruitment for his war, especially given the high casualty rate suffered by the Russian military. Over the past five months, Russian casualties have eclipsed monthly recruitment figures. Putin has turned to desperate measures, such as paychecks he can only afford if many troops die and the recruitment of greater numbers of foreign troops.<\/p>\n

Putin feels trapped in the war given that he has staked his legacy on it. But eventually, something will have to give, as this disastrous war cannot be maintained forever.<\/p>\n

READ MORE from Ellie Gardey Holmes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Michigan Medical Ethics Professor Has Plot to Secretly Spread Tick-Borne Disease, Inject Everyone With Drugs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more The Spectator P.M. Ep. 217: Liberals Want to Cancel Your Memorial Day Barbecue<\/a><\/p>\n

Good Riddance, Marty<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image licensed under CC-BY-4.0.<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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