The Putin escalation risk

Ian Bremmer on BizNews: Why a frustrated Putin is the world's next big risk

Ian Bremmer on BizNews: Why a frustrated Putin is the world's next big risk

Putin’s ‘Explosive’ New Humiliation Is Leaked

Anastasia Barashkova/Pool via ReutersVladimir Putin could face a humiliating new setback as his war risks creating a banking crisis in Russia, according to a new report. The bloodthirsty Kremlin dictator launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The “special military operation,” as he called it, has become a protracted war with stubborn Ukraine not bowing to Russia’s imperial ambitions. This protraction, of course, costs money—meaning Putin has created a bubble that could soon burst, a European state intelligence report seen ​by Reuters has warned. Read more at The Daily Beast.

Russia Cleanses Its Spy Agencies

Putin’s intelligence services are being cleansed of non-Russians, a policy completely at odds with the agencies’ multiethnic histories. It is a risky move that may one day bring serious consequences to the regime.

🇷🇺⚡️ — Reuters reports that in Moscow, hardliners are allegedly urging Putin to abandon diplo [...]

— Reuters reports that in Moscow, hardliners are allegedly urging Putin to abandon diplomacy and escalate the conflict, including by launching nuclear strikes.They have previously called on the Kremlin leader to consider various harsh measures, up to the assassination of Zelensky and the use of tactical nuclear weapons.According to the same Reuters, the Kremlin is currently resisting calls to abandon negotiations and other radical proposals.In the West, it seems that they are seriously considering the statements of ex-generals who have been given a microphone to entertain them, who are completely detached from reality.@Intelslava

The war Putin promised would never reach Russia has reached Siberia

In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russians that invading Ukraine was an act of self-defense. If NATO were left unchecked, he warned, Western missiles would soon be able to reach deep into Russia — past Volgograd, Kazan, Samara, even beyond the Ural Mountains. To prevent that nightmare, he launched what the Kremlin euphemistically []