David brandishing the decapitated head of Goliath, by Gustave Dore, public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia 

Michael Cohen nails Putin as a Goliath felled by our era’s David, Zelenskyy:

Four years ago, Vladimir Putin launched what he thought would be a weekend project. Roll the tanks into Ukraine, flatten resistance, install a puppet government, seize strategic territory and resources, and strut through Red Square looking like some shirtless reincarnation of Peter the Great. Easy. Quick. Profitable.

Instead, the mighty Russian bear got punched in the mouth by a country armed with grit, ingenuity, and what amounts to flying iPhones strapped to explosives.

If there was ever a modern-day David versus Goliath story, this is it.

And here’s the part nobody saw coming: Goliath is now hiding underground.

That’s not hyperbole. That’s reality. The same Vladimir Putin who spent years cultivating the image of an untouchable strongman; the former KGB operator with nuclear missiles, endless propaganda, and military parades choreographed like a dystopian Broadway production, is reportedly shuffling from bunker to bunker out of fear that Ukraine’s increasingly sophisticated drone and missile operations could eventually reach him.

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Even darker for Putin is the growing international isolation closing around him. The International Criminal Court has already issued warrants connected to alleged war crimes. He now travels like a fugitive king, avoiding countries where he could theoretically be detained. For a man obsessed with projecting power, that’s a catastrophic psychological blow.

History has a nasty habit of turning “untouchable” strongmen into cautionary tales.

Ask the Romanovs.

Ask Ceausescu.

Ask Gaddafi.

Military failure has a way of loosening the screws holding authoritarian systems together. And Putin knows it. That’s why the bunker mentality matters. It’s not just physical protection; it’s emotional retreat. Smaller circles. More paranoia. Less trust. More repression. Dictators become prisoners of the fear they create.