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1/ Does Vladimir Putin actually want an end to the war in Ukraine? An interesting commentary by the Russian political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov suggests that Putin is "addicted to war like a drug" and that continuing it indefinitely is essential for the regime's survival. ⬇️ 
2/ Paskukhov – who is an honorary senior research associate of the University College London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies – has been speaking with the exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky on the 'Road Map' YouTube show.
3/ Paskukhov comments: "If war is removed from public life, then [the regime] will have to switch gears and concentrate on the routine domestic agenda. After everything that has happened, this transition is fatal for the regime ...
4/ "The war has become a 'wand of salvation' for Putin. This is the old cure for any revolution. And he got hooked on this method like a drug."
5/ He also notes that the war can be used to control the population. "In war conditions, such ancient structures of consciousness, such ancient instincts are activated that nothing can interrupt them. In conditions of threat, the pack always rallies around the leader."
6/ Without the distractions of war, Pastukhov says, people will start asking awkward questions about conditions in Russia, especially the rampant corruption of the Putin regime, exemplified by his $1 billion palace on the Black Sea coast.
7/ "Here everyone takes out FBK [Anti-Corruption Foundation] videos and starts to really think about it. Didn’t it happen to us during this war, as Boris Grebenshchikov [a famous Russian rock star] sang, that we were deceived a little."
8/ In reply to Paskukhov, Khodorkovsky notes that the end of the war will cause severe economic difficulties. "Let’s imagine what will happen if we start to unwind [the war economy]. When you wind it up, there is an advantage – you start paying people more."
9/ "And when you unwind it, you either have to pay them less or put them on social benefits. This hits people mentally, everyone understands that social benefits will not be paid forever. And the people who collect weapons are the very political base that supports Putin.
10/ “Unwinding” from an economic point of view will cost no less, but from a political point of view it will cost much more."
The discussion can be watched in Russian, with subtitles in other languages, at the link below (click the image):
The discussion can be watched in Russian, with subtitles in other languages, at the link below (click the image):
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