Russia’s vulnerability showcased again after Putin presidential win

VLADIMIR Putin recently won a new presidential term that could see his Russian leadership lasting to at least 2030, totalling around as long as Joseph Stalin. However, Putin’s celebrations were cut short by last week’s horrific attacks in Moscow which could now have key political and economic impacts for the Ukraine war.

The Mar 22 tragedy, the worst terrorism in Moscow for some two decades, highlights yet again the vulnerabilities of the Russian state, especially as key security resources are diverted to Ukraine. It highlights how the regime’s grip on power is seemingly a mile wide, but sometimes apparently only inches thick.

This is the second time in less than a year that this weakness has been exposed, following the Wagner mutiny last summer led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. What that episode showed is the elite fissures within the security services and military intelligence over the trajectory for the Ukraine war.