Russia will survive the Ukraine war. But can Vladimir Putin?

Putin’s top-down rule cannot outlive a war only he thought was a good idea. And the West has no interest in dismembering the Russian Federation.

Now that Russia has been so greatly damaged and diminished by President Vladimir Putin’s reckless war of choice in Ukraine, what might the country’s future hold?

Plausible scenarios range from a power grab by a hardline security adviser like Nikolai Patrushev to an election victory by a dissident like Alexei Navalny.