In a recent reflection, the author contemplates Vladimir Putin and the weight of leadership under pressure. Writing becomes unexpectedly easy for some, yet deciphering the last ten minutes of the Russian president’s discourse resembles a medical specialist diagnosing a terminal illness for humanity. The conclusion drawn is that the tyrant did not grant himself immunity; fear of death looms large. Based on prior information, it appears Kremlin hawks pressed him into mobilizing the population, a move as hesitant and uneasy as the rest of the world. The commander-in-chief follows an imposed rebellion, with a tremor of uncertainty in his voice. Isolated, he speaks to almost no one, trusts almost no one, and faces a rare moment when even allies question the path chosen. All of this paints a picture of a leader who moves through public obligation with a wary heart and little real interlocution to rely on.
William Blake’s lines, that seem to cast a shadow toward Ukraine, speak of a god of war who remains “drunken with blood.” The disintegration that followed the so-called partial mobilization highlights a bias through complicity. A reminder surfaces that the burden of taxation on the wealthy is often framed as temporary and does not only affect unnamed Russians. The imagery evokes a tenant occupying the first Puigdemont house, while the Kremlin and those who seek to escape its grasp frame the early steps toward tyranny. One can imagine the president as a potential victim of the Maidan narrative, one he aims to suppress in Kyiv, a city that embodies both memory and resistance. The tension between power and resistance unfolds as a modern echo of historical upheavals, where the state’s narrative collides with the lived experiences of ordinary people.
Russians who endure hardship show resourcefulness in small, practical ways even if they cannot rely on universal comforts. The fall of the West has not erased a contagion of memory that casts Putin in a familiar role for many observers, while a different rhetoric surrounds Biden. The ten minutes of the tsar’s discourse leave less impression than the gravity of speeches delivered at the United Nations, where delegates from Moscow seemed detached, and the weight of global politics pressed down on the room. Americans, too, faced a moment of unease as the cadence of the president’s address wavered, threatening to drift into incoherence. In a later moment in London, journalists observed a senior figure turning to a companion and asking where the exit might be, a sign of nerves in a high-stakes arena. The reflection concludes with the recognition that Putin, like any leader facing insurmountable pressure, may have limited options and uncertain counsel, a reminder of how perilous a moment can feel when choices are few and the clock is short.