Putin and Trump's accelerating power-meltdown.

The sheer and utter desperation of Putin as he loses his war with Ukraine is best illustrated by,

"South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held talks on Tuesday with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on returning South Africans lured into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine, his office said." (Jacaranda fm: 11 February 2026) (my emphasis)

 Furthermore,

"The daughter of South African former president Jacob Zuma is among several accused of recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war." (ibid Jacaranda fm)

Let us recall that in 2016, just two years before Putin's illegal invasion of, and annexation of, Ukraine's Crimea

"Meanwhile, one of Putin's closest allies in Africa, President Zuma (right: with Putin) of South Africa, who signed a controversial and secretive deal with Putin  for Russia's Rosatom to build nuclear reactors in South Africa, has been found guilty of breaking the South African constitution to embelish his private estate at Nkandla to the tune of £13 million stolen from state coffers. This theft elicited from him a public apology but, like Putin the 'kleptocrat', he simply ignored demands for his resignation.(blog entry: 3 April 2016) 

And we now learn that,

"Kenya on Tuesday condemned as "unacceptable" recruiters luring Kenyans to Russia with promises of lucrative jobs, only to send them to Ukraine's front lines as "cannon fodder".
… 
[Kenyan] Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi (right) announced he would travel to Moscow for talks aimed at "conclusively resolving the matter and identifying sustainable solutions". (France 24:  10 February 2026) (my emphasis)

This follows on the heels  of,

"Japan is set to join the NATO-led program to fund the purchase of weapons from the U.S. to support Ukraine, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Feb. 10, citing unnamed NATO officials. 
… 
Signed by the U.S. and NATO in July, the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) agreement lays out a mechanism for NATO member states and partners to purchase high-priority equipment for Ukraine." (Kyiv Independent: 10 February 2026) (my emphasis)

Added to which, as David Hambling (right) reports, 

"The Russian invasion force is in disarray following the deactivation of its Starlink satellite communications. Meanwhile Ukrainians are rushing to get their terminals whitelisted to maintain the service." (Forbes: 6 February 2026) (my emphasis)

 

France 24 English: 6 February 2026: YouTube 

These developments are occuring as Putin "manically" continues raining bombs upon the people of Ukraine.

 

BBC News: 7 February 2026: YouTube 

As reported by Claire Keenan (left),

"A Russian strike has killed at least four people, including three young children, in a town west of Kharkiv, a Ukrainian official says.
…
A 35-year-old pregnant woman and another woman, 76, were injured in the strike on Bohodukhiv, Synegubov said" (BBC News: 11 February 2026) (my emphasis) 

Whilst Putin constantly and simply ignores Trump's "self-serving" calls about "ceasefires" in Ukraine between Putin and Zelensky, Christopher Miller (right) reported that,

"Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the US is urging Ukraine and Russia to end their war before the start of summer, reflecting growing pressure in Washington for a negotiated settlement as midterm elections approach." (Financial times: 7 February 2026) (my emphasis)

Christopher Miller went on to report that,

"Zelenskyy hinted that Trump’s political considerations [of the impending November mid-term elections in the US] were shaping his administration’s approach to peace talks.

“Elections are definitely more important for them. Let’s not be naive,” he said. “They say that they want to do everything by June . . . so that the war ends. And they want a clear schedule.”

More significantly,

"For the first time, the Ukrainian leader also shed light on parallel bilateral talks between the US and Russia, which Kyiv was not part of. He said his intelligence officials briefed him on discussions in which Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian special envoy, was promoting development and co-operation deals worth as much as $12tn." (ibid  Christopher Miller)

It is therefore no wonder that, as Konstantin Samoilov (left) reports,

"In modern Russia, culture needs permission to be distributed. 

It means this. They don't have to ban movies, books, or songs. They just make it impossible to show. No scandal ... Just one simple solution, "Doesn't meet States narrative".

Today I will show you how 'traditional values' became Russia's smartest censorship machine." (cf. video below: Inside Russia:  10 February 2026) (my emphasis)

 

Inside Russia:  10 February 2026 

Trump's desperation to stave off being impeached by trying to divert the eyes of Americans away from the Epstein files that threatens his total power-meltdown in the US, mirrrors Putin's desperation to not only cling to life, but to also try and stave off his power-meltdown in Russia. 

  

 (to be continued)