Putain is bluffing and krasnov is falling for it. From the ISW piece just above (the whole piece is worth a read. At least the part about putain, if the square foot territorial gain storiess are tedious):
...US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent estimated actual Russian inflation to be over 20 percent in October 2025.[21] Russia’s extremely low unemployment rate reflects the fact that Russia is experiencing labor shortages and is likely causing wage inflation in the civilian and defense sectors, contributing to overall inflation. Russia has also likely had to resort to importing labor from foreign states, including North Korea and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to compensate for these labor shortages.[22] The Russian Central Bank began selling its physical gold reserves in late November 2025 for the first time as part of the Russian Ministry of Finance’s operations to fund the state budget.[23] Russia has steadily depleted its sovereign wealth fund’s liquid reserves funding its war in Ukraine and has had to resort to selling its gold reserves due to unsustainable spending. Kremlin efforts to promote the alleged strength of the Russian economy are part of wider efforts to convince the West and Ukraine that Russia can outlast Ukraine on the battlefield such that Ukraine should capitulate now to Russian demands at the negotiating table. Russia’s economic policies demonstrate, however, that the Russian economy is not as resilient against Western sanctions, monetary constraints, and the cost of the war effort as Putin has long claimed.
Putin continues to promote Russia as a multinational, multireligious state ahead of the Year of the Unity of the Peoples of Russia in 2026. Putin used his Direct Line speech to applaud the contributions of ethnic minorities in Russia, particularly those serving in the Russian military, to the war effort and highlighted how Russian soldiers of different nationalities and religions are fighting “for their homeland shoulder to shoulder.”[24] Putin specifically spotlighted Senior Lieutenant Naran Ochir-Goryaev, a native of the Republic of Kalmykia and assault company commander who briefed Putin about the alleged Russian seizure of Siversk, throughout Direct Line in several likely highly staged interactions.[25] Putin stated that.... |
