Vladimir Putin is still in it to win it, but as time wears forth, Ukraine’s determination does not bode well for the former Russian “superman.” His war began with troops injuring themselves in order to escape battlefield-hell on earth, and the situation has not improved. After running out of replacements, the Kremlin apparently greenlit the drafting of war protestors, and from there, Putin has reportedly pitched a fit and increased fines for those who resist the draft. And he cannot be happy about the latest significant news coming out of Russia.
CBS News reports that the Russian ruble has fallen to a new wartime low, certainly due in part to the fallout of Western sanctions over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. At this point, it’s “now worth less than one cent,” and the downfall accelerated in January to the point where one-third of the currency has evaporated. Oddly enough, the ruble rose in 2022, but those days are over, and Putin’s talking heads aren’t pleased. One of them popped off on air and blamed Russia’s central bank, via Reuters:
Popular pro-Kremlin television presenter Vladimir Solovyev, whose Rossiya 1 shows are watched by millions of Russians, launched into an aggressive, expletive-ridden criticism of the central bank late last week.
“…every other country is laughing at us, at our rouble being one of the three weakest currencies, thanks to the ‘genius’ policy of the central bank,” he said.
Maybe we’ll receive some dour comments from Putin soon as well. That is, if he’s not busy hanging in his pickle hideout and fretting over cabbage.