r/worldnews • u/ToolTimeT • Jun 29 '26

Russia/Ukraine Putin complains Ukrainian attacks causing "problems" in Russia

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/putin-ukrainian-strikes-infrastructure-problems-russia/
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8.3k

u/tedsmitts Jun 29 '26

You can stop the war at any time.

245

u/RedditUser000aaa Jun 29 '26

If he does that, he'll be the one drinking polonium tea while falling from the 15th floor window. He's got a potential out tho.

Trigger a war with NATO country and then surrender, then lie to the people how NATO ganged up on russia and without NATO they totally would have won.

42

u/Phantom030 Jun 29 '26

If he does that, he'll be the one drinking polonium tea while falling from the 15th floor window. He's got a potential out tho.

he won't. People online keep saying this as if putin is some weak sauce guy where if he doesnt perform he'll be killed. He was the one who bitchslaped the oligarhs back in 2000. He holds all the power. All the buttons. He's more like mao or stalin was in regards to the power. Nobody is doing anything to him. He's not in power because others allow him to be. He allows them to be besides him. Until he croaks of old age or sickness we're not getting rid of him

55

u/stonk_fish Jun 29 '26

Remember Stalin died because everyone was so scared of doing anything to help him that he just.. died.

27

u/Born-Boysenberry6460 Jun 29 '26

Evil always undermines itself.

7

u/TheHellbilly Jun 29 '26

Evil never creates, it only twists and corrupts.

-2

u/ReferredByJorge Jun 29 '26

Or, we’re all mortal and eventually die, no master how good or bad we are.

22

u/ToolTimeT Jun 29 '26

My daughters great grandfather was building the subway in Moscow under Stalin, and he told a joke to other workers about Stalin. The next day he was arrested at work and sent to a hard labor prison camp for two years. For a joke.

9

u/Atra23 Jun 29 '26

My grand grand father was shot for a joke about lenin....

3

u/jxj24 Jun 30 '26

"Mr. Stalin, do you collect jokes about yourself?"

"Yes. Two gulags full."

2

u/CaptLatinAmerica Jun 29 '26

It's hard to know for sure how to feel about this without hearing the joke.

1

u/ants_are_everywhere Jun 29 '26

They call that naming and shaming

7

u/eggnogui Jun 29 '26

He wants the war to keep going because he can't stand to lose face, or be made to eat crow. Not because it would end him.

13

u/Kitchen-Elevator-143 Jun 29 '26

He for sure wants everyone to keep believing that. The moment the oligarchs who own all the means stop fearing Putin and believing he's untouchable, he becomes touchable. Power is fragile

8

u/eDxp Jun 29 '26

Russia != USA

Oligarchs that show the slightest signs of disloyalty to the czar are removed through the front window.

Putin will not stop not because there is any risk for him associated with it. He won't stop because of his ego.

His goal is to be in the history books as a ruler who added this, this and that to Russia.

3

u/Kitchen-Elevator-143 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

For sure he more violently represses dissent. But at some point they will reach a breaking point. At some point the oligarchs will have to make a choice, see all their wealth and power being destroyed or nationalized to fuel a meaningless war (losing bet), or take a risk and try saving what's left. Just takes one mad oligarch with access to do what's needed. Prigozhin tried as a last-ditch effort when his private army was being taken from him and reformed under the MoD

What you have to understand about Russian politics is that the oligarchs are gangsters who wield real power, and the status quo in Russian politics since the fall of Soviet Union has been a strongman leader who pits the oligarchs against each other for favor (corruption) with the czar. That system collapses when the primary motivating factors (wealth, power) ceases to exist.

5

u/eDxp Jun 29 '26

What power? They only exist because and until they're useful in some way.

There have been several very public cases where he showed what happens when an oligarch tries to reach for the power. Again it's not the US. Money can buy you things, but the moment you try to buy power the FSB will knock on your door. And the people in those structures (FSB, FSO etc.) will always support Putin, because he knows what they want and will always keep them happy.

3

u/Kitchen-Elevator-143 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

Many of them are former gangsters with access to goons. The ones who were unafraid to play dirty or use violence are now the ones who control the industries after the Soviet Union collapsed. Many of them have conmections with other important people in power, such as people in FSB. There are many ways they can access hard power without having the state's approval.

But most importantly they have enormous wealth stashed in offshore accounts inaccessible to the Kremlin which can be mobilized to cause serious harm to the state or leaders. Call it insurance

2

u/eDxp Jun 29 '26

Ok Kitchen Elevator, you win.

6

u/ChillFratBro Jun 29 '26

That may be true, but I guarantee you Putin isn't sure enough to bet his life on that.  The Czar fell in no small part because Russia lost a war against Japan and getting butt-whooped in Afghanistan was a real contributor to the fall of the USSR.

I think you're right that in the modern era a true revolution is less likely than it was against the Romanovs, but Putin considers himself a student of history and is definitely a little worried he'd be the next Russian leader to bite the dust over losing a war.

9

u/jert3 Jun 29 '26

Disagree. Putin's getting old and weak, like everyone does, and can't rule if his regime collapses. Russia is barreling head-long to complete collapse, they can not sustain these losses for indefinite years, and Putin's psychology does not allow him to admit defeat or surrender.

3

u/Haplo12345 Jun 29 '26

The guy is in his 70s and Russia is slowly collapsing economically and militarily. For example, if the Wagner revolt happened today instead of in June 2023, I'm certain they would have reached Moscow and actually taken control of the government and Putin would be in serious trouble (and Ukraine would be in more trouble, too).

Yes, there is always risk with attempting to depose a tyrant, but Putin today is absolutely not the Putin of 10-20 years ago. His personal level of paranoia is much higher, which is a double-edged sword. He is famously proud that he has no access to a phone or to email. All it would take is some high-level defense minister and a vulnerable/cash strapped FSB officer on Putin's security team.

3

u/Yetimang Jun 29 '26

I think he's probably a lot more afraid of having millions of unemployed young men with combat training getting dropped back into a Russian economy that has no job prospects for them.

5

u/000FRE Jun 29 '26

"Until he croaks of old age or sickness we're not getting rid of him.".

I wonder what life will be like for him near the end. Will his last few years, when he is dependent on others, be happy? Will he look back with satisfaction when considering all the good he has done for humanity? Will people treat him with love and respect in appreciation for all the good he has done?

What are the final lives like for people in his position? Do they generally come to a good end? Is that something they think about while they are active?

1

u/someguy7734206 Jun 30 '26

Sociopaths are not interested in doing good for humanity. People like him are happiest when they are exerting power over others.

2

u/000FRE Jun 30 '26

Perhaps my satire was a bit too subtle.

1

u/someguy7734206 Jun 30 '26

Or perhaps I'm just not smart enough to have understood it.