Russia = North Korea
The Moscow Times calls the current situation a ‘Total Disgrace’
According to an unnamed Moscow Times reporter, the situation in cold-hit parts of Russia is a “total disgrace." I suspect The Moscow Times chose not to identify the journalist who wrote this story.
It is shameful what is happening in Russia.
In Podolsk, a town some 30 kilometers south of the capital Moscow, at least 149,000 residents — nearly half of its population — were left in the cold when a heating main burst at a nearby private ammunition plant.
“It’s a total disgrace. There is no heating and no hot water. We have to sleep in sleeping bags,” Yuri, a local resident, told The Moscow Times.
“I have no words to describe how bad the situation is,” said Yuri, who declined to provide his surname. “We have had no heating for almost six days.”
It is not an isolated incident. It is not a singular accident that caused unfortunate ripple effects.
The problem is widespread as multiple regions across Russia continue to report heating failures: “The Moscow region, where temperatures have plunged to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in the past week, as well as the Far East Primorye region, the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Penza, the southern Voronezh and Volgograd regions and others, have all been affected by heating outages this winter”.
From St.Petersburg in the north west, all the way to Vladivostok in the south east. The entire Russian map is screaming for help.
Parts of Moscow found themselves in a dire situation as electricity, water, and heating services were disrupted. This predicament unfolded while the Russian capital grappled with a bone-chilling temperature of -25 degrees Celsius.
Is it Karma?
While I am not a believer in karma, I find it hard to ignore the irony of Russia’s current plight. Their actions have had a ripple effect, leading to their own suffering.
Gazprom, a Russian state owned entity, mocked the Europeans for the dependency on Russian gas in 2022. Russia’s attempt to destabilize Europe through gas supply threats in 2022 backfired spectacularly, as Europe emerged stronger and more united while Russia found itself facing its own energy crisis and economic turmoil.
An often overlooked detail during that tumultuous period was the uncommonly mild winter of 2022. At the end of 2022 winter, in March 2023, Euronews reported,
Europe just endured its second warmest winter on record, scientists have revealed. Between December and February, the average temperature was 1.4 degrees Celsius above the 1991–2020 average.
Learning from the lessons of 2022, Europe shored up its energy reserves in anticipation of another harsh winter, while Russia, despite ample warning signs, failed to take any meaningful steps to secure its own energy infrastructure.
This year’s winter is turning out to be one of the coldest in Europe and Russia. Finland and Sweden reported coldest temperatures this winter. Temperature in both nations plunged to lower than -40 degrees Celsius in some places.
It does not look like it is going to get better.
The underprepared Russia got smacked in the face. When a reporter asked Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov about the actions taken by the Kremlin to address the emergency, he told them there is nothing more left for the super power to do.
“Despite all the titanic efforts to update all housing and communal services systems, there’s still a certain part that remains considerably deteriorated. These programs will continue, but it is impossible to update all pipes and all housing and communal services systems in 10–15 years,” Dmitry Peskov said.
How about withdrawing the half a million troops Russia has stationed in Ukraine to steal their property? How about redirecting the money spent on building 125 missiles every month to fix those leaking pipes? How about buying firewood for average Russians instead of buying 1 million shells from North Korea? How about asking Iran to help build boiler plants instead of building a drone factory in Tartarstan.
Reuters reported in November that construction of the drone factory is in full swing!
Russian Utilities Uprooted
It is not just heating, electricity and water supply. Russia’s problems extends to to all spheres of Russian life.
Russian healthcare is well on its way towards disaster. The UK ministry of defense reported the following development on January 14th:
- The impact of the war against Ukraine on healthcare in Russia is highly likely being felt by the civilian population.
- Russian media has reported that the general public is struggling to access hospital services throughout the country. A shortage of medical products is also being reported, including broad spectrum antibiotics.
- The war is likely to be significantly contributing to this situation as hospitals are treating wounded personnel. The government is also being forced to reduce civilian health estate nationwide, due to a lack of clinical staff and financial pressures.
We can now confirm two important developments within Russia: Overwhelmed by the sheer scale of infrastructure failures, the Kremlin appears to have reached a point of helplessness, admitting its inability to address the ongoing heating crisis. The Russian healthcare system is crumbling under the strain of the war in Ukraine, with shortages of medical supplies and personnel threatening the well-being of millions of citizens.
Both of these occurrences stem directly from Russia’s concerted efforts to quietly mobilize the country for war. The Russian budget is progressively being channeled towards aggressive military endeavors, leading to cutbacks in various sectors, notably in the maintenance of utilities.
As a consequence, there’s a shortage of personnel available for the upkeep and repair of utilities, as they have been diverted to support the war effort. You cannot have a shortage of 5 million workers in an economy of 72 million workers and not feel the repercussions. Every single day, Putin is adding more to the shortage list.
No. I don’t think the Russian economy is going to collapse immediately
I maintain the belief that it’s premature to declare Russia on the brink of a colossal collapse. While one can’t dismiss the possibility entirely, predicting it for the next week or month seems impractical. Cash flow persists, with revenue streaming in from oil and gas sales. However, rather than the state and its citizens reaping the benefits as they did in the past, these funds are now directly fueling Putin’s imperial aspirations, particularly in the conquest of Ukraine. The toll on the standard of living for Russians appears to be the price paid for these endeavors.
This won’t trigger a collapse in the Russian economy. Instead, it’ll compel Russians to resort to burning firewood over adjusting the heater’s knob. Senior citizens may endure pain rather than opting for painkillers, witnessing a multifold decline in their quality of life. Unless they take to the streets in protest against this rapidly deteriorating lifestyle, Putin is poised to persist in adversely impacting their lives. If he’s willing to sacrifice their sons in defense of his throne, what motivation does he have to ensure their homes are heated and medical issues are addressed?
The true predictor of the health of the Russian economy are two items:
- Inflation rate (7.5%)
- Ruble vs Dollar (88)
Either one or both will go through a spectacular crash before the Russian economy capsizes. Inflation has increased every month since April last year. Inflation reached 7.5% in November, up from 2.3% in April 2023. Dollar to Ruble reached 100 in August, dropped, then hit 100 again in October. It now stands at 88.
President Vladimir Putin has some time in his hands. He will draw more workers from the Russian economy to sustain his war. Russians will quietly die in the cold. He will fall back on oppression to keep the population quiet and keep pushing gems like telling Russians that the egg price is going up because their standard of living is going up.
He knows he is lying. Russians now clearly see that he is lying.
But are they going to come out and fight? They never did. They supported his invasion of Crimea in 2014 with overwhelming numbers: “The Levada-Chicago Council report found that in March 2015 — a year after the annexation — around 70 percent of Russians polled thought the annexation was a positive thing for the country”.
Positive thing for the country…….?
Now they have nothing.
Not even the freedom to protest the life they have been subjected to live by the Putin state.
The late Prigozhin once said that Russians should prepare themselves to live like North Korea. That day is already upon the Russians.
Michael Kofman, while discussing the impact of Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia, said “Russian elites hold a rather classical great-power view of the international system in which small states don’t have full sovereignty”.
It is true. That is how the Kremlin thinks. Today, the Kremlin is in charge of a state that is no better than North Korea. What you wish on others….some times do find a way back to you.
