History rhymes. Last time their economy started crashing, they engaged in adventurism abroad with the goal of controlling energy markets.
Fast forward, and they have an economy that can function correctly only if oil is near or above $100/BBL, fracking is the rage, and the US is becoming an energy exporter.
Invading Ukraine should not have been a surprise. It was the economic analysis of the USSR that led the NSA’s office to predict the USSR was ready to tip, and that a weapon’s program like Star Wars could provide the final push.
Turns out we got useful stuff from it. Iron Dome is nice.
Putin needs to do a more competent job with the people and the economy that he's still got. He needs to create more incentives in the economy and he needs to create a legal system that protects real people and not just his gangster friends. Of course, his gangster friends will resist such reforms, but Putin needs to summon up the courage to make the effort. Otherwise, he'll wind up driving his economy into a full-blown depression and he'll even lose the support of his gangster buddies.
Russia is sliding downhill fast and blowing up commercial airliners isn't going to solve the real problems for Putin.