When Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, he dreamed of the restoration of the glory of the Russian Empire.. But, in the end, he began the restoration of the terror of Joseph Stalin. And not only because he committed the most brutal and unprovoked act of aggression in Europe since 1939.. Putin has also begun to turn into a dictator at home, the Stalin of the 21st century, relying on lies, violence and paranoia like never before..

To understand the scope of Putin's lies, you can look at the preparation of the war. The Russian President hoped that Ukraine would soon fall. Therefore, he did not prepare his people and soldiers for the invasion. He assured the elites it wouldn't happen. After two terrible weeks of war, he still denies that he is fighting perhaps the greatest war in Europe since 1945.. In order to support this ubiquitous lie, he shut down almost all independent media, threatened journalists with up to 15 years in prison if they did not repeat the official nonsense.. And anti-war protesters were arrested by the thousands.

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To understand Putin's appetite for violence, the publication advises to look at the course of the war. After a failed attempt to win a quick victory, Russia is trying to sow panic, seas Ukrainian cities by starvation and blindly shelling them. March 9, the Russian army bombed the maternity hospital in Mariupol. Putin mercilessly commits war crimes against the Slavs he praised in his articles. He is ready to arrange a massacre and at home.

And to appreciate Putin's paranoia, imagine how this war will end. Russia has more firepower than Ukraine. She's still making some progress, especially in the south. Kyiv failed to capture. And even if the war drags on for months, it's hard to imagine Putin winning it..

It can be assumed that Moscow was somehow able to impose a new government on Ukraine. Ukrainians are now united against the invader. Putin's puppet will not be able to rule the country without occupation. But Russia has neither the money nor the troops to keep even half of Ukraine. American military doctrine says that to suppress resistance, the invaders need 20-25 soldiers for every thousand of the population.. In Russia, there are only four soldiers per thousand. If Putin does not install a puppet government because he cannot, then he will have to seek a compromise with Ukraine in peace talks.. However, it will be difficult for him to implement any agreements. After all, what will he do if post-war Ukraine resumes its movement to the West will attack?

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The truth is that by attacking Ukraine, Putin made a catastrophic mistake.. He destroyed the formidable reputation of the Russian army, which proved tactically inept in the war even against a smaller, less well-armed, but more motivated opponent.. Russia lost very expensive military equipment and in two weeks suffered thousands of losses, almost the same as the United States for all the years of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Putin called for devastating sanctions on his country. The central bank does not have access to the hard currency it needs to keep the banking system functioning and stabilize the ruble. Open-minded brands including IKEA and Coca-Cola have closed their doors. The sale of some items is already limited. Western exporters no longer supply vital components, so factories have stopped. Sanctions against the energy sector, while limited, threaten to deprive Russia of the currency it needs to pay for its own imports..

And, like Stalin, Putin is destroying the bourgeoisie, the engine of Russian modernization.. Instead of being sent to the Gulag, these people run away to Istanbul and Yerevan. Those who chose to stay came under pressure to ban freedom of expression and assembly. It will be hit by high inflation and economic decline. In just two weeks they lost their country.

The publication writes that Stalin still led the growing economy. Despite all the atrocities and murders, he relied on a real ideology. Even against the background of all the excesses, he was able to consolidate the Soviet empire. After the attack of Nazi Germany, he was saved by the incredible sacrifice of his country, which lost more than anyone else to win the war.. Putin does not have all these advantages. He not only loses the war he unleashed and plunges his people into poverty. His regime also lacks an ideological core. " Russia's regions, sprawling across 11 time zones, have already started muttering that this is only Moscow's war, not theirs..

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Putin's failure is becoming more and more obvious. Russia enters the most dangerous moment of this conflict. Different factions of the regime will start feuding, blaming each other. Putin, fearing a coup, will not trust anyone. He might have to fight for power. He may also try to change the course of the war by terrorizing Ukrainian rivals and intimidating their Western allies with chemical weapons or even nuclear strikes..

Looking to the future, the world should warn the danger. He must break through Putin's lies by spreading the truth. Western tech companies did the wrong thing when they curtailed their activities in Russia. Because they have given the regime complete control over the flow of information.. NATO can help curb Putin's violence in Ukraine by continuing to arm and support Volodymyr Zelensky's government when the time comes for serious negotiations. The West could also increase the pressure on Putin by pushing faster and deeper energy sanctions despite all the losses to the global economy.. And you can also try to contain Putin's paranoia. NATO may say it won't fire on Russian troops unless they attack first. If the West did not want a new regime to appear in Moscow, it should declare that it would not directly prepare such a change.. Liberation is a task for Russians.

As Russia sinks, the contrast between its president and the leader next door grows brighter. Putin is isolated and morally dead. Zelensky is bold and simple, he rallied around him not only his own people, but the whole world. He is the antipode of Putin and, perhaps, his reckoning. One can imagine what a Russia freed from Stalin in the 21st century could be like.