Greater Arms of the Russian Federation, by WilhelmsCamel under creative commons license 4.0 courtesy of Wikimedia

Chris Snow, at Medium, with part two of a two-part series of the fall of the Russian Empire.  Excerpt:

The Soviet collapse didn’t begin or end in 1991. The empire has been collapsing in waves since 1989. Phases of recovery and centralisation of power are followed by phases of decentralisation and a loss of hard and soft power in its near abroad.

The situation today resembles their 1991 economic collapse. Russia’s economic survival depends on energy exports to the West and technology transfer from the West. This war has cut them off from both.

When Russia had complained about NATO expansion, here is what they might have actually been unhappy with:

“We are unhappy with this because it makes our megalomaniac plans a lot more difficult to achieve.”

This failed invasion functions as a fire accelerator for russia’s old, ossified structures and institutions.

Bad habits, bad governance, and systemic corruption were fostered over decades or even centuries. This culture, based on lies and deception (Vranjo), could speed up the process of disintegration.

Glory to Ukraine!