It is over for Putin

His influence is gone, and we need only wait to reap the global benefits.

I love saying this.

I was right.

Russia poured the entirety of their power and legitimacy into the Ukraine invasion, and though the war is technically still happening, they lost, and now they have nothing. Want an example? There is a summit of over 30 countries in Jeddah right now, to discuss Ukraine's terms for peace. In attendance are the US, China, India, France, the UK, and of course Ukraine. Russia is not invited, and their position is not being considered.

The exclusion is a massive snub to Russia, but Putin's threats are hollow and the world knows it. His rule and Russia's primacy on the world stage are simply gone.

I was right.

This is the reason I started watching the war intently when Russia failed to achieve objectives as early as the first moments of the war. Because I knew that if Russia loses, as it appeared more than possible they would before those first 24 hours were over, Russia would break itself completely on the Ukrainian anvil, and the possibility of a world without the contaminating influence of Vladimir Putin was too exciting to consider.

But when Putin not only failed to take Kyiv in the early days, but failed in spectacular, humiliating fashion, laying bare the absolutely pitiful state of the Russian military, I knew this war would be his end, and that he would spend Russia's viability in the attempt. All for his own deluded vanity.

Now, Putin is unable to defend his own country, and put down rebellions within his own borders. His inner circle dwindles, and is now just a band of circling sharks, awaiting their moment to supplant him-- except that with Western sanctions and no military to speak of, there's not much for them to usurp.

Putin and Russia are finished. I was right.