Putinism May Be Coming To An End, Ex-U.S. Envoy Aruges

Eleven months have passed since Russian forces launched a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin allies are still vigorously defending.

Photo Insert: Putin clearly didn’t anticipate how vigorously Ukrainian forces would fight back, or how much blowback he would get from US President Joe Biden and his European NATO allies.

But that war, for all the damage it has inflicted in Ukraine, has not gone well for Russia. Putin clearly didn’t anticipate how vigorously Ukrainian forces would fight back, or how much blowback he would get from US President Joe Biden and his European NATO allies

In an op-ed published by the Washington Post, Michael McFaul — former US ambassador — lays out some reasons why he believes that Putinism may now be in decline in Russia, Alex Henderson reported for AlterNet.

“Wartime leaders change generals when they’re losing, not winning,” McFaul explains.

“On January 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, was to replace Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed just a few months earlier in October, as his new overall commander of Russian military forces in Ukraine. The only reasonable conclusion: Putin understands that Russia is losing in Ukraine.”

The diplomat continues, “This shake-up at the top of the military is not the only sign of Putin’s recognition of failure. He canceled his annual end-of-year news conference, evidently reluctant to take questions even from a mostly loyal and controlled press corps. His solitary and subdued appearance at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin on Orthodox Christmas communicated little confidence.”

Three bad signs for Putin, according to McFaul, are: (1) “Major Russian victories on the battlefield are unlikely,” (2) “Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine triggered the most comprehensive sanctions we’ve seen imposed against a single country, ending two decades of Russian integration into the global economy,” and (3) “Putin’s societal support is soft and declining.”

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