Putin's war with Ukraine has become a 'millstone around his neck'.

Let it not be forgotten that :- 

• In 1768 Catherine the Great, that minor German Princess who married into Russian aristocracy, invaded Crimea,
• Stalin created the famine in Ukraine in 1933, and starved millions of Ukrainians during what has come to be known as the "Holodomor",
• and Putin invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, invaded the Donbas in 2014, and ignited the current Russia-Ukraine war in 2023.

 

Redacted Memories: YouTube

And in November 2025 we have Steve Witkoff, Trump's longtime friend and golf partner since the 1980's.

US Congressional Representative Don Bacon, writing on X,  likened Witkoff (left, with Putin) to "a Russian paid agent" in light of,

" ...  it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired." (X: 25 November 2025) (my emphasis)

As Michelle L. Price and Aamer Madhani reported in March 2025,

"Witkoff, who runs a real estate development and investment firm, is a longtime friend and golf partner of Trump. (right: Trump and Witkoff)

Witkoff first met Trump in the 1980s, when he worked for a real estate law firm that handled a deal for Trump, himself a real estate developer, according to testimony Witkoff gave in the president’s civil fraud trial in 2023." (AP: 13 March 2025) (my emphasis)

Notwithstanding the questions being raised about the health and mental deterioration of Trump, as reported by Will Neal (Daily Beast: 24 November 2025); it would seem as though Steve Witkoff almost controls Trump's pronouncements supporting Putin's demands of LEGALLY annexing the Ukrainian lands Russian troops occupy, as well as removing Ukraine's control from the rest of the Donbas that Ukraine still controls.    

 

Daily Beast: 24 November 2025 

This is exemplified by the reporting of Meduza that,

"On November 25, Bloomberg published transcripts of two phone calls involving Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to the Russian president — one with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and another with Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev. (left: Putin and Witkoff with Yuri Ushakov in background)

The transcripts show Witkoff speaking warmly with his Kremlin counterparts and offering Ushakov advice on how Putin could present his position to Trump. They also imply that Dmitriev passed along a list of Russia’s demands for a peace plan." (Meduza: 26 November 2025) (my emphasis)

And now, as reported by Laura Gozzi (right), 

"President Vladimir Putin has doubled down on his core demands for ending the war in Ukraine, saying Russia will lay down arms only if Kyiv's troops withdraw from territory claimed by Moscow.
… 
"If they don't withdraw, we'll achieve this by force of arms," [Putin] said.
… 
A US delegation including special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow in the first half of next week, [Putin] confirmed. US President Donald Trump told reporters that Witkoff may be joined in Moscow by the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner." (BBC News: 27 November 2025) (my emphasis)

The possible inclusion of Jared Kushner in this delegation may signify a counterfoil to Witkoff, following the pushback of many Republicans against Putin's so-called 'Peace Plan'.

Recall that  Rob Gillies and Will Weissert reported,

"The senators said they spoke to Rubio after he reached out to some of them while on his way to Geneva for talks on the plan. Independent Maine Sen. Angus King said Rubio told them the plan “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians.” (AP: 23 November 2025) (my emphasis)  

 

 IHIP News: 24 November 2025: YouTube

 Against the backdrop of Putin 'digging in his heels' on his 'core demands' for ending his war with Ukraine, Alexander Gabuev has stated that,

"Based on the overall economic indicators, it would be in Russia's best interest to stop the war now!" (Wion: 28 November 2025) (my emphasis) 

 

Wion: 28 November 2025: YouTube 

The euphoria of Putin into believing that the mental deterioration of Trump enables him to manipulate Trump even easier through Witkoff, and will allow him to avert the eyes of the Russian people from the increasing economic hardships they are now suffering because of his war with Ukraine, is slowly vanishing into thin air.   

Putin's war with Ukraine has now become a 'millstone around his neck'.

 

 

URGENT UPDATE: 30 November 2025  

Charter97 has just reported that,

" … according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, [Putin] will be forced to agree to a cessation of hostilities. Otherwise, additional, even tougher sanctions may be imposed against Russia. The diplomat told the La Tribune in a commentary." (Charter97: 30 November 2025) (my emphasis)

They go on to report that,

"Vladimir Putin must agree to a ceasefire or accept that Russia will face new sanctions that will drain its economy, as well as increased European support for Ukraine," the French foreign minister summarized" (ibid Charter97)

Furthermore, RFI reports that,

" Zelensky and Macron will discuss "the conditions for a just and lasting peace", the French presidency said, two weeks after the leaders last met on 17 November.

• "We will welcome President Zelensky to Paris to move negotiations forward," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper.4

• "Peace is within reach, provided [Russian President] Vladimir Putin abandons his delusional hope of rebuilding the Soviet Empire by first subjugating Ukraine. Ukraine belongs to the Ukrainian people and them alone." (RFI: 30 N0vember 2025) (my emphasis) 

Rachel Maddow (left) outlines just what French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot reported to the French people, and the world.

In her report she states that,

"To-night,in a diplomatic thunderbolt that landed in Paris just hours ago, and is still reverberating from the Elysee Palace  to the Kremlin, and to every capital in between.

The French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stood at a podium and delivered the clearest, bluntest, ultimatum any any major western power has issued to Vladimir Putin since the first tanks rolled across the border in 2022" (Meadow Line Report: 30 November 2025: YouTube)   (video below)

 

Meadow Line Report: 30 November 2025: YouTube

This is a rather timely response to the 'ultimatum' that Trump and his envoy, led by Steve Witkoff, is trying to impose upon Zelensky i.e. the ultimate surrender of Ukraine to the 'delusional hope [of Putin] of rebuilding the Soviet Empire by first subjugating Ukraine. 

 

The tables have now been turned between Trump and Putin, and Europe and Great Britain. 

  

 (to be continued)

Putin's '28 Point Peace Plan' is now a diplomatic "hot potato" in his hands.

In his memoirs, Churchill wrote that,

"In wartime, the truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." (BrainyQuote) (my emphasis)

Fast forward to today and xGrok, Elon Musk's generative AI bot, used by Sir Bill Browder (right) to analyse Trump's alleged "28 Point Peace Plan" for Ukraine, came up with the stunning answer that,

"I saw a very interesting analysis last night written by Grok, which is Elon Musk's AI searh engine, and this Grok basically analysed the "28 Point Peace Plan" and said, "This was written in Russia. The syntax etc was all translated from Russian into English." ( Times Radio: 23 November 2025: YouTube) (my emphasis)

 

Times Radio: 23 November 2025: YouTube

In similar vein, Professor Gerdes (left) poses the question, in light of  'conflicting' information about the true origin of this "28 Point Peace Plan",

"But the question is,

• "Is it a US 'peace plan'"?
• "Is it a Russian ;peace plan' that the US simply adopted wholesale?"
• "Or is it something even more nefarious."?    

 He then goes on to explain that, 

"Trump was pushing it. You have a deadline of  'Thanksgiving' to get this done'." (ibid Professor Gerdes) 

Those initially involved in this peace plan include Steve Witkoff , Kirill Dmitriev, and Jared Kushner. (right)

It DID NOT include US Secretay of State Marco Rubio. (left)

 Yet, as Rob Gillies and Will Weissert report,

"The senators said they spoke to Rubio after he reached out to some of them while on his way to Geneva for talks on the plan. Independent Maine Sen. Angus King said Rubio told them the plan “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians.” (AP: 23 November 2025) (my emphasis)

 

IHIP News: 24 November 2025: YouTube

They further report that,

"A State Department spokesperson denied their account, calling it “blatantly false.”

Rubio himself then took the extraordinary step of suggesting online that the senators were mistaken, even though they said he was their source for the information. The secretary of state doubled down on the assertion that Washington was responsible for a proposal  … " (ibid Rob Gillies and Will Weissert)

 

OneIndia on MSN: 23 November 2025

 Of Rubio, one is somewhat reminded of the saying, 

"Oh! what a tangled web we weave,
   When first we practice to deceive."

As I wrote in my last blog entry (20 November 2025),

 

"Is Trump not simply PROSELYTIZING with a carbon-copy of the defunct "Putin-Merkel Minsk Talks" (Wikipedia) part one and part two?????"

 

Now Rubio, it would seem, is proselytizing, with a copy of Putin's "28 Point Peace Plan"!

 

AP: Mark Carlson, Katie Marie Davies and Will Weissert: 23 November 2025:

 

The 'measured' euphoria of Marco Rubio, after the Geneva Talks, seems to indicate that all is not quite so well as he answered questions fired at him during his press conference.

 

As Nick Beake (left) also reports,

"European countries have been struggling to project a persuasive voice in what is a US-led process." (BBC News: 24 November 2025) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, as he explains,

• "President Macron of France warned over the weekend that Russia could invade Ukraine again if the Zelensky government is pushed into reducing the size of its military.
•  Ukraine is certainly hoping the personal relationships of certain European leaders with Trump will benefit them in a process that appears to have favoured Russia from the outset. (ibid Nick Beake)

As Sarah Gainsford (right) reports,

 

"[Steve Roseberg] notes there's significant scepticism [in Russia] that this round of diplomacy will not bring results - and there's also a lot of finger pointing at Kyiv and Europe." (BBC News: 24 November 2025) (my emphasis)

 

Furthermore that, 

"Finland's president Alexander Stubb says he welcomes the progress made in  the talks in Geneva, after speaking to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky."

 
"The negotiations were a step forward, but there are still major issues which remain to be resolved," he adds." (BBC News: 24 November 2025) (my emphasis)
 

Critically,

 

"Stubb adds that any decision falling within the remit of the EU or Nato will be discussed and decided by their members separately." (ibid Sarah Rainford)
 

After the Geneva Meeting in Geneva Zelensky, addressing the people of Ukraine and of the world, in a few words encapsulated the danger to the universal principle of  territorial integrity and sovereignty that Putin's war in Ukraine presents.

 

"Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen, to break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

That's the main problem. 

You all understand what that means. He wants it not only from Ukraine. He wants it from the whole world.

And it is crucial  to support the principles on which Europe stands. Borders cannot be changed by force.

That war criminal must not escape justice." (BBC News: 24 November 2025) (my emphasis)

 

 

BBC News: 24 November 2025

 

Putin's '28 Point Peace Plan' has now become a diplomatic "hot potato" in his hands.

  

 (to be continued)

Putin's power now hangs by a slender thread.

The late Harold Wison is supposed to have famously said sometime in the 1960's that,

"A week is a long time in politics!", which encapsulates the fast-paced nature of the political realm, where changes and events unfold rapidly, shaping the course of history. (The Socratic Method) (my emphasis)

Fast forward to today, and Konstantin Samoilov (left) has encapsulated the fast-paced nature of the political realm in relation to Putin's war in Ukraine by reporting that,

"Russian oil drops to RECORD LOW price. Russian oil Urals price fell as low as to $36 per barrel.
… 
This is the end of the Russian economy, period.
… 
This is its death. (Inside Russia: 19 November 2025) (my emphasis)

He goes on to explain why this dramatic drop in the price of Russia oil signifies the end of the Russian economy.

 

Extract: Inside Russia: 19 November 2025: 
Complete video: Inside Russia:19 November 2025: YouTube

He explains: "This is how much Russian oil actually costs to extract.

(i) Pure lifting and operating costs : Ave. $15 per barrel

(ii) Full cycle cost of Urals  : Ave. $20 per barrel

(iii) Fiscal and Budget break even i.e. ALL costs incl. (i) and (ii),  together with Government costs e.g. all the Taxes, Excise fees ... the price needed to BALANCE State Finances: Ave. $40 per barrel

$36 per barrel is BELOW ALL costs.

But most significantly of all, he predicts that,

"Mark my words. Russia will start negotiating peace soon. 

And Putin has been very set … very firm … on not making compromise on lands that Russians stole from Ukrainians .. 

Mark my words … He is going to be much softer now because the oil … Russian oil Urals … is trading at $36. 

Putin is cornered … and he's out of money … this is it. No more money from anywhere." (ibid Konstantin Samoilov)

And with this prediction of  Konstantin Samoilov,  Jaroslav Lukiv and Paul Kirby (right) also report that,

• "Senior Pentagon officials have arrived in Ukraine to "discuss efforts to end the war" with Russia, the US military has said.

• … the US and Russia had prepared a new framework peace plan, requiring significant concessions from Ukraine including giving up territory it still controls and dramatically cutting the size of its military.

• 
  … the plan, drafted by President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev (Not Sergei Lavrov?????) (BBC News: 19 November 2025) (my emphasis)   

And just who is Kirill Dmitriev???

None other than one of Putin's billionaires, and his "Special Presidential Envoy on Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation". 

Billionaire Kirill Dmitriev, now stepping into the 'political' shoes that was previosly worn by Sergei Lavrov, is yet another indication that, as Konstantin Samoilov points out, "the fall of Urals price [to] as low as to $36 per barrel signifies the end of the Russian economy, period." 

However, Jaroslav Lukiv and Paul Kirby also report that,

"EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas (left) warned on Thursday that for any plan to work, it would need to have Ukrainians and Europeans on board, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said "the Ukrainians do not want any form of capitulation". (ibid Jaroslav Lukiv and Paul Kirby)

Putin's recent intimidations of Esonia, Poland, Romania, Great Britain and, Belgium (amongst others) by entering their air and sea space with drones and warships cannot simply be ignored by Trump, including his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.  

 

Sky News: 19 November 2025: YouTube

The days that Trump and Rubio believed that they called the 'shots' in dealing soley with Putin about the conditions for a ceasefire in Putin's war with Ukraine, without including Great Britain or the Europeans, are long gone.

 

Sky News: 20 November 2025: YouTube 

Putin, with his failing war against Ukraine, and with his economy crumbling to dust in his hands, still believes that his 'nuclear arsenal' is enough with which to intimidate Great Britain and the Europeans.

But the political tide has changed, both inside and outside Russia.

Putin's power, and possibly his life, now hang by a slender thread.

p.s.: "Is Trump not simply PROSELYTIZING with a carbon-copy, of the defunct "Putin-Merkel Minsk Talks" (Wikipedia) part one and part two?????"

Is this not simply a re-play, by Trump, of Putin's  and Angela  Merkel's  (Born in the DDR. Raised in the DDR. That minor German princess (Wikipedia), who later became "Catherine The Great", and whose portrait occupied  'pride of place' from the other portraits which adorned Merkel's office when she was Chancellor of Germany. Also, that Catherine the Great of Russia, who invaded Crimea from Russia, and  that seems to have been Merkel's inspiring mentor.)

......  Minsk Agreements part1 and part2 ? "?

Let it also not be forgotten that those Minsk Agreements were "Binned" by Putin himself in 2014, AFTER he had invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimea.

Putin then proceeded setting up his subsequent invasion  of Ukraine's Donbas region. 

And then, in 2022, Putin decided to invade Ukraine again, and take over its total control i.e. to FULLY occupy and ANNEX Ukraine!

Putin STILL wants Ukraine's complete capitulation. 

UPDATE: 21 November 2025: GMT: 16:28 

 Just as Churchill, at the height of WW2, stirred the nation by proclaiming, 

“I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone." (Presentation Magazine);

Zelensky has just made the most stirring speech that has caught the hearts and the minds of people all around the world.

Below is a video of the full speech of Zelelnsky delivered to the people of Ukraine, and to the people of the world.

This is a speech that will go down in the annals of history ... a speech that defines the spirit of the people of Ukraine, and their determination to, "ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny ... the menace of Putin"

 

TSN English: 21 November 2025: YouTube

  

 (to be continued)

Putin's 'nightmares' are becoming reality!

Trump is now desperately trying to  prevent the FULL disclosure of the contents of the "Epstein Files" held by the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) to divert the eyes of the American public from revelations that may reveal his 'sexual participation' in the 'paedophile' ring created by the late Jeffrey Epstein.

 

MSNBC: 14 November 2025 

Similarly, Putin is throwing everything at the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which signifies, more than anything else, his 'overwhelming fear' that his power, and maybe his life, is fast coming to an end. (blog entry: 12 November 2025)

This 'genocidal' strategy of Putin against the people of Ukraine is being met by a devastating and precise Ukrainian respose which not only is throwing his generals into utter turmoil but, more significantly, has brought fear into the very hearts of the Russian people.

 As Rachel Maddow (left) reports,

"A full speed Russian motorcycle assault force charging towards the city of Pokrovsk, only to be swallowed by a thick unnatural fog that turned their assault into confusion, collision, and untimely collapse.
.....
It was supposed to be a .... a blitz of intimidation meant to break Ukrainian lines before sunrise but, what began in minutes ... what began as a roaring rush of engines turned into a wall of panic" (Rachel Maddow Worldview: 14 November 2025: YouTube)

 

Rachel Maddow Worldview: 14 November 2025: YouTube 

Furthermore, as Nicolle Wallace (left) reports,

"It's 3:00 am over Moscow time. The sky over Tartastan is black, silent, cold. And then a flash, not the kind you see in warzones on the Ukrainia border, not the kind you expect in the contested Donbas, or the shattered streets of Mariupol.

This flash happens 800 miles deep inside Russian territory. The Tanico oil refinery, one of the largst and most strategically vital energy complexes in all of Russia, erupts into a column of fire so massive ... so violent ... that satellite imagery captures it from space." (DeepState Exposed: 14 November 2025: YouTube)

 

DeepState Exposed: 14 November 2025: YouTube  

As also reported by Sophie Tanno, Lex Harvey and Svitlana Vlasova,

"Ukraine struck a key oil terminal in the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, causing infrastructure damage and igniting a blaze, as deadly overnight Russian strikes pounded Kyiv.
… 
The depot, one of Russia’s largest oil export facilities, was targeted by Ukrainian forces in an attack acknowledged by officials from both countries that highlights Kyiv’s escalating efforts to target a key source of war revenue for Russia." (CNN on MSN: 15 November 2025) (my emphasis) 

With the reality that his demented dream of recreating USSR number 2, nurtured in his mind since 2014, now evaporating into thin air as Ukraine continues to hammer Putin's 'nightmares' into becoming a reality, Rachel Maddow reports that,

"Tonight we bring you a breaking story reveals a crisis unfolding not on the battlefield but within Russia itself.

The war that began as a invasion of Ukraine is now turning inward, consuming the very nation that launched it. 

• Russian soldiers are dying at catastrophic rates
• enlistment bonuses that once lured volunteers are vanishing
• and in a desperate move that echoes the darkest days of the cold war, Moscow is preparing to lock its citizens inside the country   (World Report HQ: 14 November 2025: YouTube) (my emphasis)

 

World Report HQ: 14 November 2025: YouTube 

Putin is simply compounding Russians being locked inside their country as the EU and Great Britain also begin to make it extraordinarily difficult for a Russian now to obtain a visa to either enter, or re-enter, the EU or Great Britain. (cf: blog entry: 12 November 2025)

Which means that NO Russian male can now escape 'forced' conscription into the "meatgrinder" that Putin's army in Ukraine has devolved into. (cf: blog entry: 12 November 2025)

As Nicole Wallance says,

"Putin built his entire war strategy on a simple premise, [that] Russia 

• can endure more pain than Ukraine, 
• more casualties,
• more economic hardship,
• more international isolation ..

The Tanico strikes flips [this] equation. 

• Suddenly it's Russia that's vulnerable,
• Russia that's bleeding economically,
• Russia that's facing domestic pressure,

as the war moves closer to home. (ibid Nicolle Wallace)

Putin's 'nightmares' are becoming reality! 

UPDATE: 18 November 2025: GMT: 08:52 

 In his succinct analysis of the state of the Russian economy, 
Konstantin Samoilov (left) reveals the 'impoverishing' effect hat Putin's war on Ukraine is having on the people of Russia.

This 'impoverishing' effect has now reached a critical the stage, where Russians are been forced to eat less because of their growing economic 'impoverishment'.

As he says,

" What's the worst thing that can happen to you economically.

• Not losing your car, or your vacation, or material things. 

•  It's when you start eating less because you simply can't afford food" (Inside Russia: 17 November 2025: YouTube)

The video below paints an accurate picture of the Russian economy imploding, with thousands of Russians been laid off from work, myriad of Russian companies on the verge of and been forced into bankrupcy, and Russian workers not being paid for months and having to survive the growing cost of food .... rampant inflation.

And all of this is backed up with statistics, newspaper articles, and growing public discontent, from within Russia itself!  

 

Inside Russia: 17 November 2025: YouTube 

This is the reality that Putin simply cannot hide from the Russian people with his avalanche of disinformation on Russian TV. 

And he knows it!

His overwhelming 'nightmares' are becoming reality as public insurrection now stares him in the face!  

  

 (to be continued)

Putin now 'overwhelmingly fears' that his power is fast coming to an end

Short of including the 'nuclear kitchen sink', Putin is throwing everything at the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as the increasing chill of the coming Winter ramps up.

As Matthew Loh (left) reports,

"Heavy fog is punishing Ukraine's drones in the key city of Pokrovsk, where Russians are attacking on motorbikes and cars
… 
Fog is providing cover for Russia's push into Pokrovsk, which Ukraine has been defending with drones.

The bad weather's impact on the frontline highlights how UAVs can suffer from poor visibility." (Business Insider: 12 November 2025) (my emphasis)

And as Alisha Rahaman Sarkar,Nicole Wootton-Cane and Alex Croft (right) report,

"Volodymyr Zelensky has said the military situation in Pokrovsk remains “difficult”, with the bad weather in the area favouring Russian forces.
… 
Ukrainian forces face a difficult situation in Pokrovsk “in part because of weather conditions that favour the attacks”, he said.

Russia deployed about 150,000 troops to drive towards the city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Mr Syrskyi [Ukraine’s commander-in-chief] told the New York Post. (The Independent on MSN: 11 November 2025) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile, as Will Stewart (right) reports, 

"Vladimir Putin's daughter (left) is reportedly behind a campaign to bring down Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, as she attempts to end the war in Ukraine. 

Last week, reports indicated that the president had sidelined Lavrov, 75, who has been one of his staunch allies over the years and has been in charge of foreign policy for more than two decades." (Daily Mail on MSN: 10 November 2025) (my emphasis)

Yet, as Fox 9 News reports,

"Russia's top diplomat says he's ready to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but Russia won't abandon its conditions for ending the war in Ukraine." (Fox 9 News on Yahoo News: 10 November 2025) (my emphasis)

 

Fox 9 News on Yahoo News: 10 November 2025

The mere fact that that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov (left), has not deviated from Putin's original maniacal claim that invading Donetsk in 2014 was to "protect Russian people" in  Ukraine's Donetsk region indicates that Lavrov's call for a new meeting with US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, rather belies the fact that Putin has sidelined Lavrov.

 Without the consent of his puppet master, Putin,

Putin and Merkel 2014

Lavrov simply would never try to organise a new meeting about Putin's original and demented demands for practically complete control over Ukraine, as set out by Putin and Angela Merkel in their 'so-called' Minsk Agreement talks in 2014. (cf also: blog entry: 07/11/2014)  

What is further compelling Putin to thrown everything at Pokrovsk, short of the 'nuclear kitchen sink', and as reported by Travel Mole,

"The European Commission has adopted stricter rules on visas for Russian nationals, in view of the increased security risks stemming from Russia‘s war of aggression against Ukraine, including the weaponisation of migration, acts of sabotage and the potential misuse of visa.
… 
From now on, Russian nationals will no longer be able to receive multiple-entry visas. This means Russian nationals will have to apply for a new visa each time they plan to travel to the EU, allowing for close and frequent scrutiny of applicants to mitigate any potential security risk." (Travel Mole: 9 November 2025) (my emphasis) 

 

DW News: 8 November 2025: YouTube

As Viktoria Vlasenko (left) also reports,

"Russia has created a network of agents to conduct its hybrid war against Europe. The network brings together government agencies and organized crime and Russian-speaking men with criminal records are being recruited to carry out acts of sabotage, according to a study. " (DW: 7 November 2025) (my emphasis)

 

 DW: 7 November 2025

The new visa restictions on Russian citizens to enter and enjoy the freedoms of the EU, having themselves 'frolicked' in the rampant corruption in Putin's Russia, now find themselves trapped within the confines of Russia.

Those Russian citizens currently in the EU and Great Britain now face the stark reality of their current visa expiring, and having to return to a Russia from which they will find it extraordinarily difficult to obtain a visa to re-enter either the EU or Great Britain.

Furthermore, as Rachel Maddow (left) so succinctly explained after Ukraine's 'Flamingo' darkened Moscow for a few hours,

"In the modern world, the first casualty of fear isn't infrastructure it's narrative. 
....
You can't spin darkness. You cannot explain a blackout in the capital. When people open their windows and see the skyline gone black, the story they tell themselves changes quietly, privately, but irreversibly.

That's how regimes begin to erode." (Deep Current Report: 10 November 2025: YouTube)

 

Deep Current Report: 10 November 2025: YouTube 

Not only is the comfortable Middle Class of Russia having to face up to the consequences of Putin's war with Ukraine as they find it extraordinarily difficult to obtain a visa to re-enter either the EU or Great Britain. 

So, too, are ordinary Russians living in Moscow, and other large cities in Russia, feeling the consequences of Putin's war with Ukraine as Ukraine gives them a taste of what many Ukrainian people have had to endure since 2022. 

Putin throwing everything at the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk signifies, more than anything else, his 'overwhelming fear' that his power, and maybe his life, is fast coming to an end.

UPDATE: 13 November 2025: GMT: 5:30 

That Putin's nightmares are now being overwhelmed by fears not only for his own life but, more importantly, the reality that his demented dream of recreating USSR number 2, nurtured in his mind since 2014, is evaporating into thin air.

As Diane Francis (left) says,

"There is a very great possibility that [Ukraine] can [with its drones] plunge a huge section of Russia, including its capital [Moscow] into darkness, without heat and light, through much of the [coming] winter and that, of course, will be debilitating" (Times Radio: 12 November 2025) (my emphasis) 

 

Times Radio: 12 November 2025: YouTube

 

And Rachel Maddow has just reported that,

"A Russian general (left: Leonid Ivashov), one of Putin's own ranks and, for the first time, has publicly admitted, what the Kremlin has desperately tried to conceal. 

Russia has been defeated ... Yes ... You heard that right! ... Demanded that Vladimir Putin resign!" (Maddow News: 12 November 2025) (my emphasis) (cf: also: blog entry 07/11/2025)

 

Maddow News: 12 November 2025: YouTube 

 Putin's 'nightmares' are becoming reality!

 

 (to be continued)