[pepsionice]

Four things obvious:

1. Putin ‘lives’ in the 1990s and sees the ‘glorious’ heartland surviving on...even if industry, commerce, banking are teetering.

2. There is plan ‘B’. Russia has to win in some fashion.

3. Most economists question the 2021 Russian census. The gov’t position was 147-million ‘existed’. If the numbers were off by 10 to 20 percent....the twice a year drafts can only make sense if you had incoming North Korean conscripts hired-up.

4. I noticed last week...some Russian gas-stations are not getting normal deliveries. You pull in...limit to what you can get. It would have a dismal effect if they can’t get back to a regular schedule.

[Rockingham]

Russia's financial position is increasingly strained, with inflation and shortages of consumer goods impacting the civilian populace. The coming winter will be hard for ordinary Russians. With Putin having no way to remedy their distress, this could spur opposition to the regime.

Moreover, in recent months, Ukraine has used long range drones and special forces raids to target Russia's crucial oil and gas sector. Along with inadequate maintenance, investment, and personnel, the result has been a decline in output that pits domestic needs against the fuel exports that earn Russia essential hard currency.

Wars eventually end, often from exhaustion. And Russia is looking more and more exhausted.