Vladimir Putin is losing his grip on Russia

Posted by bazzmt 3 hours ago

Vladimir Putin is losing his grip on Russia(www.economist.com)

32 points | 23 commentspage 2

rodwyersoftware 2 hours ago|

[flagged]

0dayman 3 hours ago||

bullshit

doopnottagen 3 hours ago||

I had this strange dream where Putin died of natural causes and Russia replaced him with a body double and AI to keep the war and world affairs running indefinitely as a continuous psyop.

And then I woke up and wondered if it were true ;p

hiccuphippo 1 hour ago||

In this hypothetical scenario, who gets to decide how the body double should act or what decisions he takes? And Why wouldn't they just take the power themselves?

apothegm 1 hour ago||

The latter because as soon as it’s know Putin isn’t there a power vacuum is evident and a broader struggle for power ensues. Then whoever wins has to establish legitimacy.

Whereas a few people in agreement about how to direct a widely-recognized figurehead can hang on to power indefinitely and without contention (the latter being potentially costly along many dimensions).

thunderbong 2 hours ago|||

This isn't Reddit

yepyoukno 2 hours ago||

I don’t mean to encourage anyone though they are known to use body doubles, AI, and psyops.

black_13 2 hours ago||

[dead]

buran77 2 hours ago|

Age and health issues can erode someone's power. But news like this are a dime a dozen. They might be right but this is propaganda 101. Eventually the prediction comes true and the news outlet can pin a medal to their chest.

Every once in a while they get to throw one about the enemy or any world leader out into the world and see if it sticks. Here's the Economist being super worried about Xi's grip on power [1].

[1] https://www.economist.com/china/2025/07/20/xi-jinping-is-gro...