Putin's demise in now reaching the final countdown.

Putin fining Google for more money than there is in the world indicates that he is now scrambling around like a headless chicken to prevent his ultimate demise.

As Graham Fraser (left) reports,

"A Russian court has fined Google two undecillion roubles - a two followed by 36 zeroes - for restricting Russian state media channels on YouTube.

In dollar terms that means the tech giant has been told to pay $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Despite being one of the world's wealthiest companies, that is considerably more than the $2 trillion Google is worth.

In fact, it is far greater than the world’s total GDP, which is estimated by the International Monetary Fund to be $110 trillion."  (BBC News: 31 October 2024) (my emphasis)

CTV News: 31 October 2024: YouTube

 Adding to Putin's 'headless' scramble to prevent his imminent demise, 

"As many as 8,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s Kursk region and are expected to enter combat against Ukraine in the coming days, top US officials announced Thursday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts in Washington, said the troops have been trained “in artillery, UAVs, basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in frontline operations.” (Jennifer Hansler and Haley Britzky: CNN on Microsoft Start: 31 October 2024) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, as Tziki Brandwine (left) reports,

"Security around the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, has been tightened recently for fear that he could be assassinated, South Korean intelligence reported.

According to South Korea, GPS systems have been jammed in the area surrounding the dictator and security was increased, along with special equipment to detect drones." (Israel National News: 30 October 2024) (my emphasis)

This near manic nature of Putin's and Kim Jon Un's behaviours is further compounded by the closing days of the US presidential elections in which Donald Trump, himself, joins Putin and Kim Jon Un in behaving manically.

Nicolle Wallace: MSNBC: 31 October 2024:

And driving Putin even further into a 'furious' paranoid frenzy,

"The Commission welcomes the consensus reached by the EU and G7 partners to collectively provide loans for €45 billion to support Ukraine’s urgent budgetary, military and reconstruction needs (approximately $50bn). This confirms that the EU and G7 partners fulfil the commitment they made in June at the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Summit. These loans will be serviced and repaid by future flows of extraordinary revenues stemming from the immobilisation of Russian Central Bank assets." (EUREPORTER: 29 October 2024) (my emphasis)

The current 'bromance' between Putin and Kim Jon Un is also having consequences on their relationships with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As Didi Tang and Matthew Lee report,

"The U.S. and South Korea have called on China to use its influence over Russia and North Korea to prevent escalation after Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia to aid Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Beijing has so far stayed quiet.

... It’s unclear if Beijing was informed of Pyongyang’s move in advance, [Victor] Cha (Korean chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies) said. Beijing also could fret over Russia gaining more influence than China over North Korea, Cha said." (AP : 1 November 2024) (my emphasis)

As the US presidential election is now drawing to a rapid close, and Donald Trump seems to be on a fast 'losing streak', Putin and Kim Jon Un find themselves becoming even more isolated and paranoid.

We now await to see how Putin's 'siloviki' and the people of Russia will react to events in the next few days.

Putin's demise in now reaching the final countdown.

 

 

 

(to be continued)