How Putin might fall: A lesson from 1991

Vladimir Putin may have averted an armed rebellion by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin - but if the fall of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 tells us anything, it's that even a failed coup can still spell ruin for a leader.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guest: Peter Conradi, Europe Editor, The Sunday Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips: BBC News, ABC News, MSNBC, Simon Marks Reporting, Perm Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
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[@snezdimi6695]

Putin will not forgive how Progozin made him feel that day.

[@sharonlavery7656]

What , like a little girl that got scared and ran away It took Putin 12 hours after he ran to make his pathetic shaky speech....... I don't think the world will forget how Putin felt when he ran away and left Moscow to defend itself 😂😂😂

[@apsmith1635]

Once he doesn't sit on the pile of money that can be stolen he will be disposable and should stay away from the windows that he used to view other people falling from

[@robertkalweit6634]

0:21 🎉😂😢😂😢😢😮😂😮🎉😢😮😮🎉 0:33 🎉😮🎉😮😢😅🎉🎉😢😢🎉

[@ugooko7569]

Good luck

[@marioformosa4259]

yes and i wouldn't be surprised if he has money lending in his cv . Not just acting the clown

[@renatob9909]

putin: Hello NATO? I need a ride! 😂

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

Big brave child murderers using terror tactics proven not to work. I hope that russians understand that they are as responsible as their leader for crimes against humanity.

[@nikityukvlad]

such a sweet voice. Haven't heard anything new, but do not regret listening

[@marygee3981]

❤Thank you for all the Putin Downfall talk. I sleep better at night.👍

[@S3eauchemin]

Really good piece.

[@kalinamarinova9339]

Great content, very needed!

[@hififlipper]

highly recommendable to listen to, thanks for uploading

[@blackterminal]

Thanks for the video.

[@philipmulville8218]

I also remember the morning of August 19th, 1991, very well. I happened to be on a 6-month work placement at the Leningrad City Soviet of People’s Deputies, as part of my Russian language program. I worked in the Planning Commission of the Committee for Economic Reform, chaired by Anatoly Chubais, a brilliant young economist with his distinctive red hair and freckles. In my apartment, there was a dark green plastic telephone made in East Germany, and it rang. I could just about hear my father’s voice on the line: ‘Suits can be replaced! Pack a small bag, and get to the Finnish border as soon as possible.’ I called work and my colleagues advised: ‘Stay out of the city centre for a few days.’ The Mayor of Leningrad at the time was a former Law Professor from LGU (Leningrad State University), Anatoly Sobchak, and the deputy Mayor was a former student of his, Vladimir Putin, who had recently returned from an assignment in Dresden. Putin was referred to as ‘the grey cardinal’. Sobchak’s daughter, Ksenia, a child at the time, was rumoured to be Putin’s god daughter (she went on to challenge him in the 2018 Russian presidential campaign). Bizarrely, I had arrived to Leningrad, but returned home from St. Petersburg, as the city’s name changed on September 6th 1991. Truth is often stranger than fiction.

[@TopNetWorld]

Almost disagreed with you!!! Whoa were or are care of Rus Slavs people after Romanov?? Who’s running as Russians and Ukrainians countries right now??? Who are more corrupted and reached in these countries??? Who suffered after October 1917 revolution mostly up to now???

[@henkholdingastate]

It takes a lot of effort and people's lives to get this man away

[@funkyplasmaman]

I remember ksenia being bullied by all the other challenges and she cried

[@casper8464]

@@TopNetWorld disagree with what? His factual account, or his opinion of the 'brilliant' economist? Or that truth is stranger than fiction at times? At any rate, making a competition out of suffering in order to allow a despot is never a good idea. Because the winner is a loser.

[@labrador-fx3fb]

Were there many Labradors in Russia, at the time? I wonder how many Labradors managed to get imported, there.

[@TonyM540]

Prighozin said he showed no aggression, so what was the point of pointing his tanks at the defence office.

[@patrik7353]

Many thanks for at very interesting program.

[@deborahhric7513]

I have known Unilever still conducts business in ruzzia and begun my own boycott of their products. I appreciate your posting of their products and did not realize that they produce Klondike bars. Thank goodness their are many substitutes available. So thanks for the listing. I also boycott Pepsi. Since Lever Bros. (Unilever) prefers rubles, I will spend my USD elsewhere! Slava Ukraine!

[@gabriellerose3839]

I would still like to see him tried in the ICC. Plus all his fortunes should be spent on rebuilding Ukraine. However, will probably drink the same ‘medicine’ he has forced down the throats of so many people he didn’t like.

[@mickser101]

Bush and Blair should go instead for, well you know, killing 1 million Iraqis on a lie

[@cyuiyuwyguiyui8540]

"all his fortunes should be spent on rebuilding Ukraine" Could pave the Ukrainian roads with gold then..

[@lnpsych1]

We hate NATO and US for the bad they have caused to the peoples of the non western world! In Africa we support Russia and love Putin !!

[@elliotlambert3817]

the Russians should write a similar law into their constitution that gives them the right to invade the Netherlands if any Russians is arrested by the ICC.

[@peterwaine923]

You took our propaganda hook, line, sinker and the rod….lol some people just can’t do critical thinking. Why do you believe our media, why do you not even question it, why don’t you use common sense first then research afterwards, do you need to be told what to think and do by our media, especially a media already obsessed with seeing the Russian demise for the last 20 years or more….Putin is stronger than ever, coup,s require others to follow, NOT ONE PERSON DID…NOT ONE. And we know it, but we will make out Putin is finished, the cracks have started, NO IT AINT.

[@hiss9989]

I was a newborn baby when all that was going down, but I remember it all too well.

[@SL-sd3sg]

Faster the better!

[@fairgolfer]

Putin would like this..... he's a big history buff 😊

[@kristinfrostlazerbeams]

He only believes HISstory.

[@drfill9210]

He buffs something when he's writing his own history...

[@javierpatag3609]

@@kristinfrostlazerbeamsWhat you said. Truth. A person isn’t really a history buff if they only follow the stuff they like and ignore the parts they don’t.

[@casper8464]

@@javierpatag3609 History is just a tool for him. It's similar to Trump's make America great again. It's about connecting to conservatives, to the ones who will grant him power and look away, in order to reach that nostalgic view: Basically he promised to make Russia great again, after the fall of the USSR. He did the same by refering to 1917 when he was going on about Prigozhin: a historical and existential threat. History often is about what we consider to be good and evil. By using it, he tries to unite himself with that glory of before. History used as a tool. To me it seems however, he's trying to do the same as before, instead of learning from it... I figure we all do that, considering history keeps repeating (sort of).

[@MightyAvengingLeo]

@@javierpatag3609 Okay, so he's a history buffoon.

[@DHEAS11]

Remember those days well . Was spending my time between the anty coup rallies and completing my PhD thesis. Life in Moscow was much harder materially with lots of shortages, but not near as hopless than now.

[@helveticaification]

You completed a PhD thesis and still don't know the difference between 'anty' and 'anti'? !

[@cjb8010]

@@helveticaificationperhaps a typo, since the rest of the comment is quite literate.

[@dpelpal]

People are losing money hand over fist in russia, their currency has all but collapsed in value over the last year and the regime won't let them buy foreign currency

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

​@@cjb8010y and I are hardly wide apart on a phone keyboard. Maybe jealous of someone who has had an education 😕 🙄

[@brianwarden7250]

@@helveticaification A typo???

[@nadinabbott3991]

There is another moment that is relevant. 1905.

[@Enceladus007]

Did you have to keep his picture permanently on view throughout the whole podcast

[@proudman6598]

Still better than looking at Biden

[@W_Bin]

Interesting! 20:35 but missed the Free Russia Legion month long invasion without any significant opposition also.

[@Mike-tg7dj]

That's what Sergi said, whenever there was a significant inside the Soviet Union TASS would always play "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky. Sergi was born in 1971 his first memory was Brezhnev's death and he said they played Swan Lake. Then Andropov became leader and then he died sure enough they again played Swan lake folliwed by Chernenko who as we know died too in which as guessed they played Swan Lake. Crazy right but that's what they did to signify major change unside the USSR at the time.

[@StompingRabbits]

Russian Federation isn't Soviet Russia....

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

Petr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was gay so in "modern " russia his work wouldn't be played! 😅

[@brianwarden7250]

Good Times.

[@TopNetWorld]

Bolsheviks all over!!! Look their names and origins!!!! U will find who they are!

[@NAGZE]

This is a fantastic upload and 27mins long.. plenty info, clear voice. 10/10 The European paper 😮

[@Bryankips]

Russia ❣️ 😆 🦾

[@Darkthrone-qi1ic]

….Meanwhile just across the English Channel France is on fire 🔥

[@ant318]

Is it ever not?

[@olivergarcia2304]

Very interesting, well told!

[@cheriemorey4728]

Thank you that was very interesting best wishes from Australia

[@kristinfrostlazerbeams]

Question: Was this whole thing a plan or could it have been a plan for certain people to get rich? I'm asking because there were many state owned and lucrative businesses that it looks to me like were taken by certain elite or powerful or crafty people because someone had to run them since the state was no longer communist. It looks to me like those people got free money making companies at the expense of the recently dissolved state which put its money into developing the businesses and the equipment and so forth while many others were still poor with no opportunities still to make themselves rich on their own. The people who benefited financially from the dissolution of the USSR were folks who figured out how to grab the spoils and maintain them.

[@johnhume4346]

If you want to know what really happened get a copy of the Alex Krainer book "The Grand Deception".

[@luapseirffej]

In a nutshell, USA dropped the ball in the 90s when they had a golden opportunity to bring Russia into capitalism correctly. As such, the people in power took all the money for themselves, leaving very few extremely rich and powerful oligarchs in charge of all major industries, and the people continued to suffer. It's not real capitalism, it's a feudal oligarchy. Russian people's lives are closer to those of serfs in the 1700s than we enjoy in the West (and it's pretty bad for us so that gives you an idea ha!)

[@marcod5027]

Also Naomi Klein describes the economic forces connected to the coup very well, imo, in The Shock Doctrine

[@72mespo]

That’s exactly what it was. It’s what it always is about.

[@casteretpollux]

The IMF enforced it. Read Jeffrey Sachs.

[@BarbaraC02]

Very much enjoyed this informative video. Thank you.

[@drfill9210]

"Veni vidi vamoose" terry pratchett. RIP

[@whomagoose6897]

"I came, I saw, now to get out of Dodge." A modern translation of Terr Pratchett

[@drfill9210]

@@whomagoose6897 and you are his prophet...

[@martstam2016]

Wagner is more like Streltsy rebellion, it was quite common trough Russian history. Parallel with USSR is pointless.

[@songkhaitung3999]

more exciting than fiction

[@daniell1483]

8:52: Russia was very different then? "Everything was controlled by the state...was running out of money... was falling further and further behind the West, both economically and military and so on...and it was run by a bunch of old men who barely knew what they were doing." So, just like today? Thirty years later, Russia hasn't changed a bit.

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

Exactly the problem. Until the collapse of the USSR we in the west believed it was on a par with medical care, engineering and aerospace. In the event we saw that heart surgery required a chilled body, a skilful fast working surgeon and luck, not a heart lung machine. Engineering was very much try it and see if it works, if not blame someone, not the engineering. Space exploration not only failed but cost lives right from go.

[@JohnSmith-co1cp]

The economy in Russia is no longer state controlled; it is mostly private, albeit controlled by oligarchs and security people who may have influence within the state. But It's very different from the centrally planned Soviet Union, if still dysfunctional.

[@evaluateanalysis7974]

@@geoffreycodnett6570 " Space exploration not only failed but cost lives right from go" That's not so - it was and is successful and fewer lives were lost than by the USA. Their Soyuz was used to send other people into space when the US Space Shuttle was cancelled.

[@giselameunier4788]

Wrong , Poutine saved his country from hunger, Russia became a world power , Stop your nonsens

[@johnwalsh4857]

how Putin might fall. simple, 1. lose the war in ukraine. 2. mobilizing more troops and still losing in the Ukrs battlefield badly.

[@NZobservatory]

Both of those things are happening.

[@Realist369]

@@NZobservatory

[@NZobservatory]

@@Realist369 The entire world is laughing at russia, comrade Olga. Even North Korea mocks you. Think about that: _North Koreans_ are laughing at russia. 😆😅🤣😂

[@robgrey6183]

Stalin killed tens of millions of his people over decades. During the war he flung millions into hopeless battles to die for him. He died of old age, still in power. The Russians haven't changed much since then, I'm thinking.

[@NZobservatory]

@@alexanderlazarev3570 No Olga, the entire civilized world is cheering Ukraine on as it routs the drunken rabble you pretend is your army. Meanwhile, garden gnome putin knows he's about to accidentally be thrown through a high window while sleepwalking in the shower.

[@daenbrown830]

The British press is beyond desperate

[@DogeickBateman]

Ok bot

[@ariaatmar9489]

What about Mrs Truss, Mr. Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister and Mr. Macron's downfall????

[@clancywiggam]

Nooooo!!!!! Dobby!!!!!!

[@cocobunitacobuni8738]

from your lips to the gods' ears

[@ekondigg6751]

What happened in 1991 appears to be completely different from the Wagner "rebellion". However we try to look at what happened there's something fishy about it. I think we should also look at what happened in 2014, where Russia was using "plausible denial" with their "little green men". It was all prepared in advance but western analysts hadn't seen it coming. I thing the analysts need to look a bit better at the coincidence of Russia moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, at the same time as this "rebellion" which could just be an excuse for Wagner moving there as well. There is no apparent advantage in moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, and this was announced very publicly. I hope it's not the case, but someone should be checking to see if this is in preparation for a plausibly deniable operation - involving a nuclear device - which would be extremely serious.

[@alexv7634]

Belarus / Russia, pretty much the same, if one come from either of them, I bet response would be the same, but I do get your point, I think thought about it as well.. Wagner "used" nukes not us.

[@arthurm4726]

Look at putin’s ears (size in particular), and then compare them to the ears in the picture of ‘Putin’ in Dagestan this past week as he ‘works the crowd’…I am not a big one for the body double rumours, but the ear difference is shocking…

[@snotwurfit]

Kept thinking I was listening to Matt Frei

[@brianholding4357]

🇺🇦Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦🇬🇧

[@shabanovorg]

Although this joke is ambiguous, because of the much worse Soviet imperialists tried to take away Gorbachev's power, but it is very common among ordinary Russians: "We are waiting for the ballet Swan Lake on all TV channels!"

[@1TrueGem]

I think Putin should show he's not scared and go ahead and #FreeNavalny

[@Mabeylater293]

Just make sure the head falls separately.

[@renedragon877]

Might??? Never...

[@ZaraPoeta]

I like this new styl! Very refreshing "new take" and meaningful information. After the last few weeks of "utterly speculation" and a wast of time interviews... You see it very easy to talk "sensible garbage" that does not matter what way the situation goes you will be right... I call it 2 way speculation....and helpful to no one In "my world" that simply don't roll. Give your take, no word playing. Yes ultimately we don't know the future.... True! But make you choice... and tell your story how it will play out... Life is a jungle out there, deal with it! Can you think before the Ukrainians go into a battle and they have that attitude... Sorry I don't have time for weaklings... and sorry Times, lately you interviewed quite a few of those "type" with their "speculative wisdom" So in conclusion, if you cannot state your position then this is a far better way in my humble opinion.... This was REALLY informative... Oh and start preparing and bracing yourself for putin 2.0 .... Times... time is close!... and I mean for the larger part of Europe!

[@MrRocketguitar]

Soon the world will be a better place

[@kevinmaccallum336]

"The emperor has no clothes."

[@judgedredd8876]

*Where is Gonzalo Lira?*

[@Trevor_Austin]

Classic music? No. It was the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" the third movement in The Nutcracker Suite. This music was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

[@nadinabbott3991]

I followed real time on Telegram. It was fascinating

[@stevensullivan1251]

Be very careful what you wish for.

[@stuartx7865]

Or what? The West doesn't fear ruSSia. We see now how terrible their military is.

[@ravgm7947]

Window

[@tannerdenny5430]

Leningrad...state university number 1 ❤

[@godfreyofbouillon966]

You got your timeline wrong. Lithuania declared independence BEFORE this coup you talk about.

[@gavinmc5285]

the king's head

[@jameshallahan4376]

Love I think Roosevelt quote - stay out of European wars

[@mikloskallo9046]

Describing an armed mutiny as a peaceful protest... I wonder where he got that idea from...

[@chirpywiggins5796]

Knowing our luck, he'll probably fall on the red button !!!

[@joemo1222]

Great podcast

[@hen5555]

Big talk from a "empire" who are vassals of there former colony.

[@1jediwitch]

The 𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 Human Beings of our planet #StandWithUkraine! Glory to Ukraine 🇺🇦 Glory to the Heroes! 🇺🇦✊💙💛✌️ 🌻🌾🍉🦝

[@coolhandlukedubble99]

"Putin tear down that wall."

[@nicktechnubyte1184]

Ukraine 🇺🇦 will soon become a fully united country again free from all russian interference and become a new member of the European Union 🇪🇺 and NATO while the entire russian dictatorship will be completely dissolved, stripped of their nuclear weapons, and russia will be turned into separate smaller countries with no military power whatsoever! Glory to all the brave people of Ukraine 🇺🇦 and all those who support them against the tyrannical dictatorship of russia! SLAVA UKRAINE 🇺🇦!!!!

[@goenzoy]

There is zero chance of EU and NATO membership of Ukraine EU is a possibilty maybe from 2035 onwards NATO membership Hungary would never accept

[@discosheepish2868]

@@goenzoy Thats not some members are saying, soon as the war is over they are going to be fast tracked. NATO will have an army on Russias doorstep, just as Putin didnt want.

[@jmhorange]

Europeans can do whatever they want with the EU but they are not joining NATO. It just makes the world more unsafe and ties up American resources that needs to go to Asia and Taiwan.

[@rogerphelps9939]

@@goenzoy There are ways and means. If Hungary turns Ukraine down the remaining NATO members will act as if Ukraine was actually a member. Anyway, Orban is living on borrowed time.

[@NZobservatory]

@@goenzoy Orbán's power stems almost entirely from putin. When putin goes he will take a bunch of nutjob dictators with him.

[@susanprentice9668]

That shows that Russia will never be free. Gorbachov tried to free Russia.

[@lnpsych1]

Gorbatsev rather tried to sell Russia at a low price to the U.S. He is like nobody in Russia..is if he had never existed

[@1jediwitch]

🇷🇺🧟🧠=😞 Freedom is a concept not understood in🇷🇺.

[@daydays12]

if I remember correctly ( shows how old I am ) the 'western' media didn't start reporting on this for many hours after the event...and that confusedly. Completely asleep on the job. It'll be the same when/if Putin goes...

[@NickanM]

I am 53 and there's nothing wrong with your memory.... 😊

[@johnfranklin6394]

I was a post-grad student in the US at the time. I was actually taking a short holiday in the Grand Tetons with my parents who were visiting me from England. We were in a log cabin in Jackson Hole and watched what we could on the TV in the cabin. Then we went hiking!

[@arnowillekes7979]

You indeed remember correctly! I can also remember how confused and rambling the journalism at the time was…as if there weren’t any correspondents or western media just wasn’t interested…

[@daydays12]

@@NickanM thanks for that...reassures me!

[@daydays12]

@@arnowillekes7979 I'm glad I didn't remember it wrong! Thanks for that!

[@janekokoszko7525]

Probably the Dance of the Dying Swan.

[@kevinjewell233]

Putain= Bunker Boy Jr....

[@RanjivKurup]

You should worry about Europe going down a tube, not Russia.

[@dixsusu]

That day was election day in Russia .

[@irisheyes9634]

Only, putin is a really dumb version of Tyrion.

[@gerryhouska2859]

Both short, but Tyrion wasn't bald and loathsome.

[@Proxis123]

Putin has been running one of the most diverse and hostile countries for some time now. I'd hardly call him dumb or incompetant... You are just blind to reality and seeing what you want to as opposed to what is going on. Fool of a took.

[@carolisherwood493]

Everyone wants it

[@misterjones7248]

Possibly, more like Nicolae Ceaușescu

[@misterjones7248]

@@user-otzlixr 😆

[@patrickknight6542]

This is KZbin, NOT a podcast! Has your budget been slashed? Get some video up there!!!

[@Broadside388]

Couldn’t listen to this as the background music was extremely irritating!! Why on earth they need those plinky plonks sounds when you’re trying to listen to important information is beyond me!! I normally love Times Radio on KZbin but the audio only ones are completely unlistenable for me whilst they insist on setting the dreadful “music” in the background. 😢

[@sigmundsilber2210]

It was Swan Lake of course.

[@appletree6741]

Let's hope this evil gnome won't last long

[@robgrey6183]

yeah, Biden's done enough damage.

[@George-kr1de]

@@robgrey6183 waiting for this narcistic Trump ?

[@LyubomirIko]

@@George-kr1de R. Kennedy is the only rightful one for president.

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

​@@robgrey6183Keep those blinkers on your horse and cart. Rednecks 😂😂😂😂

[@marianmartinez1494]

'spilling blood'? yes, so who shot down those helicopters and planes.

[@Marcus_C51]

Yeah, I found that preposterous too! Prigozhin and Putin are against spilling Russian blood? They could care less...

[@jameswaters3939]

Simple rule, boys - just put the damn guns down. War is a waste of life and past works.

[@jeromevincente2932]

He is done. It’s the final epitaph of the Old Soviet Union now comes Democracy and its mess.

[@JP-fn5xt]

What if someone crushed him ?😊 Those nuclear weapons he doesn’t carry around.

[@canadiangemstones7636]

Bunker Grandpa ran like a dog when Prighozin turned on him. Poor old fella will retire to scenic North Korea soon.

[@csg-cutesmilegooner1690]

Oil and gas ain't gonna cut it this time vlad

[@ronmullard5718]

putin the brave and fearless warrior ran away and hid with his tail between his legs ....like a scalded cat....how do they have respect for someone like that....

[@NAGZE]

He will be laughing..He's got Nukes Galore at the ready...

[@stuartx7865]

@@NAGZE But he can't use them if he wants ruSSia to continue to exist.

[@geraldthomas8948]

Kaputin.

[@StompingRabbits]

🇷🇺WINNING!🇷🇺

[@admiralbenbow5083]

I remember all this like yesterday. Putin is simply a continuation of that process. Russia could have gone one of two ways, and it went and turned in on itself. The circle is nearly complete.

[@marioformosa4259]

Amazing how it rebuilt itself . It is now ready to pounce on what's left of Ukraine if it so wishes . Ukraine can remove Zelinski and get a Ukrainian

[@jasonwalters6329]

Either way he’s a dead man walking….just hope lives long enough to face The Hague and justice is served.

[@TonyM540]

I don’t believe the rumours that Putin uses “ doubles “ no body else could walk like that 🤣

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

Hmmm i think there is still too much emphasis placed on this gaseous notion of Soviet pride and/or Russian Empire. I am completely convinced that, even if such notions have any sort of real existence, they are at most, liquid, rather than solid - likewise they are at most smokescreens behind which the arch villain Putain can manipulate the levers of power to his own, personal advantage. To this day, the most obscure thing, not just about this war, but about the entirety of Russia and its people, is if we can all see the essential decency of Gorby - and the utter empty evil of Putain - why cant Russians? And if they can, what does that say about them? After all, much has been made of the waves of Russians who have exited the country since 1991 - not just active dissidents but thousands of ordinary people who saw the writing on the wall. And let's face it, they were mainly the educated, the middle class, the professionals. Who, therefore, gets left behind? The rural, the conservative, the older generations, manual workers - in short, the "Z" - "RuZZians". I believe THAT is going to be by far the most knotty problem long term - that we will have to come to terms with what sounds like an uncomfortably un-PC fact. That many - even most - of who's left in Russia today are a) aware of exactly what Putain is like and b) are ok with that. In which case the West needs to prepare to be disappointed if it thinks a Messiah figure like Navalny can be swept in as a saviour of Russia and that we can all go back to business as usual. The worst crime however, is that as Russia approaches its nadir, "awkward" though this idea may appear, with its uncomfortable parallels with imperialism, the best solution would be for the West, under Ukrainian auspices, to roll the tanks into Red Square and oversee a peaceful transition by keeping order and providing time and space for Russians to understand just how shat on they have been by Putain and his cronies.....otherwise someine even more sour, venal and hardline will just take over and make the world an even more dangerous place than before... ...and while the world HAS faced even more destabilising events than these before, it has not done so with the effects of climate change, literally, like the rising seas, lapping at its ankles. Tomorrow's generations of politicians are going to have neither the time, the resources nor the bandwidth to deal with an awkward, recalcitrant, bullying, resentful, drunken teenage Russia that has no concept of a shared world......

[@davidmacdonald1695]

I agree that the entire claim russia (with a sub-Spanish size economy, and that’s if you believe the numbers they feed to the IMF) is anything remotely approaching a superpower or somehow has an entitlement to be one and dominate the lives of its various neighbours in Eastern Europe. It has no moral or legal right to demand red lines over the policies or allegiances/NATO or EU membership of democracies on its border and I see it as a huge bluff in which Europe’s tail is attempting to wag the dog. We should take them down to size in my view so they accept their place in the world as a middling regional power in Europe and nothing more. That said, I think you are also right to point out that someone worse could take over. The solution isn’t clear as it will take time to educate Russians that in real terms they aren’t that important anymore and need to start behaving themselves and cooperating with others as one nation amongst many. Until then, they will continue to cause trouble in order to be noticed by other far more important members of the global community.

[@geoffreycodnett6570]

There wasn't sufficient time between the collapse of the USSR and today for the population to understand what had changed. Those who were in their teens and slightly later experienced hardship and exploitation by their elders. The old guard were still around ten years later when pootin gained power. He effectively made a pact with the population. Give him political power, leave him to deal with that part of life and he would look after them. Those over 30 by that time were comfortable with the agreement. Those who were younger had little chance to oppose. The country is stuck in the past. Supporters of the regime were gifted companies devolved from state control. Provided the lives of the population remained unchanged or appeared slightly improved pootin was and is supported. There isn't a viable alternative since opposition parties are banned and leaders jailed or live outside russia.

[@giselameunier4788]

give examples to your statements

[@naponroy]

DId she just call Gorbachev the Russian President? Uh... yeah... ok. THat calls into quetion any research done here.

[@bradhigerd4838]

Not an if but a when. God will decide.

[@elainejefferson4131]

For Putin to have a "flying lesson" only repeats assignations. Only the Russian people can change the outcome of their history.

[@ashedarke]

So... what we're saying is Lukashenko will become the next President of Russia 🤔

[@jamessmithers4456]

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE!!!

[@systemicbreakdown7864]

liliputin and his lackeys should be flayed and it should be done very publically.

[@StompingRabbits]

You should stop using LSD. 🇷🇺WINNING!🇷🇺

[@systemicbreakdown7864]

@@StompingRabbits You should stop using krokodil, go to the front and follow the "how to eat a grenade" instruction sheet all ru soldats are given, for victory.

[@simon7585]

The answer to last question is he is bringing nothing but hanging out his gymnast mistress and having several secret sons

[@giselameunier4788]

wrong , daughters, Poutine is the best leader actually, better than evil Nato and US

[@jaym8257]

I don't think he is going anywhere. It seems the Russian like what he gives them.

[@stuartx7865]

He's 70. He will be out one way or the other soon enough.

[@peterhylten8930]

Vlad the bad Putin!!!

[@robertbones326]

Russia is going down YOU'RE GOING DOWN IN FRONT OF ALL THESE PEOPLE!!!!!! 🇪🇪🇬🇪🇮🇷🇰🇿🇮🇳🇰🇷🇹🇭

[@cohenworrior898]

Unlike Putin, Gorbachev was a democratic politician and as such badly equipped to handle the fallout of a military coup. Putin, like Stalin, is much more ruthless and will lash out when his authority is challenged. Expect purges.