Did the war end? Dance ain't over. Results sometimes take awhile when you're dealing with a dictator who is hard to remove and doesn't give a shit about his countrymen.
Those economists were largely correct; the collapse is just still in motion. It's a big country, takes awhile to complete even just one full trip around the drain. Things move faster when you have a ruler that gives a shit about his people, which isn't Putin. I recall pretty much everyone acknowledging Putin had put together a 'rainy day fund' for Russia to help weather the West's response, I don't remember anyone ever attaching dates to when Russia would keel over.
The ruble is toilet paper, infrastructure continues to crumble, exports are shit. Putin is taxing the hell out of broke people, and they have fewer and fewer professionals in every field by the month. Weren't they just pleading with the Kazhaks and Azeri for cheaper onions, cabbage and potatoes a few weeks ago? And now thanks to OPEC the price of oil is going to keep falling.
It's less impressive when you keep in mind Putin's got the entire population scared of going to prison and keeps a private army handy for any possible Maidans.
I suppose anything is possible when you've got desperate leaders in China and NK, but I'll be impressed if the Russian Army can still fight in 5 months.
Those economists were largely correct; the collapse is just still in motion. It's a big country, takes awhile to complete even just one full trip around the drain. Things move faster when you have a ruler that gives a shit about his people, which isn't Putin. I recall pretty much everyone acknowledging Putin had put together a 'rainy day fund' for Russia to help weather the West's response, I don't remember anyone ever attaching dates to when Russia would keel over.
The ruble is toilet paper, infrastructure continues to crumble, exports are shit. Putin is taxing the hell out of broke people, and they have fewer and fewer professionals in every field by the month. Weren't they just pleading with the Kazhaks and Azeri for cheaper onions, cabbage and potatoes a few weeks ago? And now thanks to OPEC the price of oil is going to keep falling.
It's less impressive when you keep in mind Putin's got the entire population scared of going to prison and keeps a private army handy for any possible Maidans.
I suppose anything is possible when you've got desperate leaders in China and NK, but I'll be impressed if the Russian Army can still fight in 5 months.
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