These Are The People Who Could Replace Vladimir Putin

Sunday the 30th of August, The Economist published something that at one point would have been unthinkable, a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin had allegedly told his cronies during the war in Ukraine. Quoting him here, they will hang me.

Putin was apparently admitting that his life would be in danger if the war ended without Russia at the bare minimum capturing all of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region.

This was an extremely rare admission of vulnerability by a man who had clawed his way to the top of Russian politics from the KGB. A blood-soaked realm where any sign of weakness will get you thrown out faster than someone suggesting a bath in the French parliament.