Russia and Ukraine flashpoint

[Zkuq]

Bofferbrauer2 said:

Zkuq said:

bUT UkRAINe ISN't a reAL couNTRY. Seriously, the greatest threat to Putin probably comes from Ukraine. I still don't think there's particularly strong opposition to him in Russia, although some discontent must be spreading among the elite as well.

Not from the public, that's for sure.

But about his siloviki and other persons of power in Russia, I wouldn't think it would be past them to do something about Putin if the war turns sideways or if the economy starts to truly tank. Especially the more nationalist ones who are anti-immigrants (Putin has let millions of foreigners settle in Russia to combat the population curve) or military hardliners (who want to send more troops into Ukraine by mobilizing the population or even considering more destructive measures, like nukes) could become a problem, and both would be even worse than Putin on a world stage.

I know. I think Putin might be the least bad option unless the society of Russia goes through a significant change as well, because it's probably going to take a ruthless approach to replace him, even after his presidency ends. Honestly, the best chance of Russia getting better is probably its leadership making life in the country so miserable that the people force a leadership change big time and manage to get someone actually better in power (and to be honest, even then it's probably going to be some manipulative person that gets in power).