With the crippling sanctions and a string of defeats in Ukraine, the sun finally seems to be going down on Russia’s once-vast empire.

"Evidence of Russia’s declining influence can be seen throughout the post-Soviet world. On the frontlines in Ukraine, Putin’s invasion force is suffering from increasingly obvious manpower shortages that make a mockery of attempts to portray Russia as the world’s number two military power. Moscow has been forced to withdraw troops from deployments across the former USSR while also recruiting soldiers from among the Russian prison population.

Russian military withdrawals from Central Asia have led to renewed border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The changing dynamic in the region was also on display with the President of Kyrgyzstan keeping Putin waiting prior to their bilateral meeting. Putin was once notorious for making world leaders wait, but the shoe is now on the other foot.

Russia’s retreat is nowhere more immediate or obvious than in Ukraine. Putin’s brutal invasion was supposed to derail Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration and force the country firmly back into the Kremlin orbit. Instead, it has turned Ukrainian public opinion decisively against Russia while also uniting Ukrainians. Polls now consistently indicate similar attitudes throughout both western and eastern Ukraine toward Russia, national identity, language, and foreign policy. Rather than destroying the Ukrainian nation, Russian aggression has dramatically accelerated the country’s nation-building progress.

Throughout the former USSR, Russia’s only remaining loyal allies are Belarus and Armenia. The Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union no longer appear to be functioning in any meaningful sense.

Ukraine and Moldova are now firmly within the EU sphere of influence. Azerbaijan has cemented a strategic alliance with Turkey and is a rising economic and military power whose energy resources will become increasingly important to the EU as Europe seeks to end its dependency on Russia. Georgia’s unnatural pro-Russian stance is crumbling. Meanwhile, China has replaced Russia as the preeminent power in Central Asia. Russia’s humiliating military setbacks in Ukraine and economic isolation from the Western world have confirmed its status as China’s junior partner."

Hi shadowminister,

The last days of the Russian Empire?

It certainly looks like it. Three decades after
the collapse of the Soviet empire Russians are
again being dragged back in time to where Soviet
citizens lived isolated from the rest of the world.
Where they lived in a bubble of failed ideology and
misinformation spoon-fed to them by the regime.

That system fell apart under just the kind of
autocracy that Putin is trying to restore. He's
not succeeding. He's failing Russia and his people.
He's erasing the gains of the post-communist period
in an attempted power-grab to rebuild a doomed empire.

His attempts have badly damaged Russia's military,
and tarnished its reputation, disrupted the economy,
and profoundly altered its power and standing in the
world. The war has been a tragedy for Ukraine and
the Ukrainians however it's also been a disaster for
Russis.

One big quotation. But, who is being quoted?

http://atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/putins-russian-empire-is-collapsing-like-its-soviet-predecessor/

I think this is what shadowminister quoted from.

Worth a read.

Foxy got it in one.

Simply highlight a section of the quote right click and select google search and this usually gives you the article quoted.

There are also several other articles on this topic.

One of the major points of tension is that Putin's press gangs have focused on the remote areas so much so that there are villages denuded of men between 18 and 50 so that he does not piss off his political base in Moscow and St Petersburg i.e. ethnic Russians.

These far-flung ethnic regions are largely self-governing and are already grumbling at losing so many able-bodied men. If Putin's Junta collapses, then these regions might try and split off from Russia and the defeated army will be in no position to stop them.

You should watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge2YZ8YSNjU&ab_channel=SkyNews

The opinion is that the Russians have culminated. They are running out of ammunition, artillery, men, tanks and any needed to continue the war.

This looks like it might well be the turning point.