Putin's empire is already collapsing

Four Ukrainian regions "in addition" to Crimea have been declared part of the Russian Federation. Putin threatens Ukraine and the West. But at the same time, his empire is crumbling before his eyes.

Putin's war against Ukraine did not just call into question Russia's influence in the post-Soviet space. It destroyed this influence, leaving only the appearance of it. Yes, the leaders of the former Soviet republics still gathered at the informal summit of the CIS leaders in St. Petersburg - and that's not all. But let's take a look at the participants of this meeting. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikola Pashinyan negotiated a peace treaty in Prague before their trip to Russia, Putin and Lukashenka were simply not invited to the summit of the European political community. At the same St. Petersburg economic forum, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, refused to recognize the "people's republics" of Donbas and spoke of the "quasi-states" created by Russia. And the president of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Zhaparov, refused to participate in the summit because of the conflict between his country and Tajikistan. Moreover, it is noticeable that Russia cannot influence this conflict between two CSTO countries. And as a result, Kyrgyzstan canceled military exercises of the CSTO on its territory, and Russia had to swallow it.

Even the staunchest chauvinists in Moscow are forced to admit that former Soviet republics are closely following the war in Ukraine and are convinced that perceptions of Russia's power have been greatly exaggerated. Russians are always ready to humiliate the weak, but when they are rebuffed, they lose all their fictitious greatness right in front of their eyes. That is why Putin's defeat in our country will not only lead to the final loss of control over Ukraine.

It will also lead to the final loss of control over the entire post-Soviet space. The empire will finally die.