Putin`s "Russian world" is deflating before his eyes

Have you noticed how deflated the President of Belarus has become? Lukashenko, who everyday used to say something, holding out his hands to Putin, raising his finger and shaking his head from side to side in displeasure, has disappeared from TV screens, although Moscow TV is always ready to show him. I understand Lukashenko's state of mind: 4-5 days ago, his, that is, the "Belarusian direction" of Putin's operation was in the centre of attention of the Russian Federation, it was decisive; however, now this direction is simply gone.

No one will be surprised if it turns out that Lukashenko was quietly talked to from London or Washington, and he also quietly shook his head from top to bottom. We do not see that agitation, that sense of the navel of the Eurasian continent that exuded from Minsk.

The Ukrainian media today reported the withdrawal of Russian troops from 30 settlements, their regrouping near the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Belgorod barn of combustible materials, bombed by the Ukrainian forces, is on fire. Note - Belgorod is a Russian city, the centre of the region with the same name, next to Ukraine.

A clarification came from Central Asia. The very same Kazakhstan that the Kremlin believes should crawl under their feet out of gratitude for saving them from the wrath of the people (just like in Belarus), announced today that it will not be a tool to circumvent US and EU sanctions against Russia. Timur Suleymenov, first deputy head of Kazakhstan's Presidential administration, said this in an interview with the news portal Euractiv.

"We will comply with the sanctions. In spite of the fact that we are a part of an economic union with Russia, Belarus and other countries, we are also a part of the international community. Therefore, the last thing we want is for the USA and the EU to apply secondary sanctions to Kazakhstan," RIA Novosti quoted Suleymenov as saying.

Georgia participates in all international sanctions against Russia; Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said this on CNN. A part of the Yerevan media, amid a still ongoing national Armenian disaster following Armenia's defeat of Azerbaijan, is blaming Russia.  Pashinyan has not expressed support for the "operation" against Ukraine.

Moscow TVs hint daily at Chinese and Indian support for the Kremlin, and Lavrov is already in Delhi and meeting this country's Prime Minister. However, the fact is that Beijing and Delhi are unequivocally, without any discussion or exception, supportive of Ukraine's territorial integrity. No country in the world has recognized Crimea as Russian territory (sorry if I don't know about Vanuatu and that type of islands).

New Delhi and Beijing may talk about the ineffectiveness of sanctions against Russia and the impossibility of a mono- and bipolar world, but Crimea is, in their view, Ukrainian, so Moscow has no hope of changing its position on Donetsk and Lugansk.

Turkey continues to supply Ukraine with Bayraktars; Russia's hope of destroying its fleet of Bayraktars in Ukraine has burst. Russia's expansion outside its legal borders is not needed by Turkey, nor is needed by anyone else.

Another political talker in the program on "Pervyi" just started to say something bad about Azerbaijan for latter’s attitude to Ukraine, and was quickly interrupted by Skabeyeva, who reminded them that a famous Moscow critic had problems with Azerbaijan and was put on international wanted list by Baku. Other talkers in the studio smiled understandingly.

Russia is shrinking, and this is clearly visible in the geography of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. New, more effective lethal armaments, which do not require heavy equipment to transport, are on the way from London, Germany and other countries. This is exactly what the West can supply and the Ukrainian army needs. Zelenskiy has no shortage of live, militarily trained and highly motivated military forces. Alongside with a minimum of five million combat-ready own population, Kiev has around two dozen thousand volunteers from other countries.

At the same time, public support for the "operation" has grown in Russia. This is evidenced by new poll data. Putin has launched external anti-Russian destructive mechanisms; however, he has also launched internal destructive processes, because now it is difficult for him to back down. Otherwise, it will be necessary to explain long and loudly the reasons for the military and political retreat. And there is no strength to go forward (or else why did he give the order to retreat?).

The number of points of the Kremlin's demands on Ukraine is shrinking before our eyes, and changing them in propaganda interpretations. Russian political analysts have to dig through their imagination for words to explain the possibility of "denazification" of Ukraine in the absence of the Russian army throughout its territory. And the "demilitarisation" of Ukraine with that country's counter-attacking army.

Look at the faces of those standing around Skabeyeva, Solovyov and other political TV presenters. Pay attention to the grimaces of the presenters, sadly skeptical smiles of the invited experts, and the degree of swearing in their speeches, and much will become clear to you.