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The Economist: Putin fears ending the war without victory. ‘They will hang me,’ he reportedly told his inner circle.
Meduza • • world
Key Points:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly fears for his safety if Russia fails to achieve its minimum war goal of capturing all of Donbas, with sources indicating he once said, “They will hang me.”
- Growing discontent with the war is evident among ordinary Russians and the elite, who view the prolonged conflict and wasted time—nearly five years—as a significant failure.
- The Kremlin faces challenges as continuing the war unchanged risks squandering economic resources and political capital, though Putin still retains the means to persist through repression.
- Analysts suggest Putin is unlikely to show weakness and may escalate the conflict through intensified hybrid warfare and sabotage targeting Ukraine’s allies to break the current stalemate.
- Western intelligence warns of potential Russian strikes on European factories supplying military equipment to Ukraine, though a direct confrontation with NATO is considered unlikely.
