Putin is in the most vulnerable position since the start of the full-scale invasion, and the West must seize this moment and increase support for Ukraine. This is how People's Deputy Kira Rudyk assesses the current stage of the war. Her article, published in the Atlantic Council, sparked a reaction in Ukraine's defense community. Co-owner and chief designer of Fire Point Denys Shtilerman stated that the current "long-range sanctions" are already destroying the internal stability of Putin's system, writes UNN.
Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has entered a new phase over the past year. While earlier the invader conducted combat operations almost without feeling their consequences on its own territory, now Ukrainian troops have "brought the war" back to the aggressor's rear. By striking military, logistics, and fuel infrastructure, Ukrainian forces are not only reducing the resources of the Russian army but also undermining the internal stability of Putin's regime, which for years promised Russians that the war would not affect them. People's Deputy Kira Rudyk writes about this in her article "With Putin visibly weakened, now is the time to back Ukraine."
Ukraine's successes directly undermine the tacit social contract between the Kremlin and the Russian population. For many years, Putin promised Russians a higher standard of living while simultaneously assuring them that wars would not affect their daily lives. Now that Russian cities are regularly hit by strikes and millions of people are forced to stand in lines for fuel for hours, this informal agreement is rapidly losing relevance,
At the same time, Rudyk warns that Russia's weakening does not mean a quick end to the war. The Kremlin has already intensified internal repression against its own people and increased attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure. That is why, Rudyk believes, Kyiv's allies should step up support for Ukraine.
Russia is still far from collapse. However, it is clear that today Putin is in the most vulnerable position since Ukraine's battlefield victories in the first year of the full-scale war. Western leaders must use this moment to bring a sustainable peace closer by increasing support for Ukraine,
The theses outlined by Rudyk were also supported in Ukraine's military community. Co-owner and chief designer of Fire Point Denys Shtilerman in a post on social media X noted that the strategy of systematic strikes on Russia's military and critical infrastructure forces Russians to feel the cost of war.
"Putin's system is held together not by love, but by an agreement: you don't meddle in politics — we don't let the war into your home. The strikes by Ukraine's Defense Forces have broken that agreement. Every line for gasoline in Voronezh, every glow over an oil refinery — it's a reminder to Russians that the tsar is no longer fulfilling his part of the bargain. And a system that fails to keep its own promises does not last long," wrote Shtilerman.
Separately, Shtilerman addressed those who hope for a quick "ceasefire," emphasizing that Russia's weakening does not make it less dangerous.
And this must be repeated to everyone who dreams of a "ceasefire." Weakening on the front, Russia always intensifies terror against civilians and repression at home — that is its unchanging modus operandi. The weakness of an empire does not make it more peaceful. It makes it angrier. And that is precisely why it cannot be given a pause. It must be finished off while it is weak… This is the formula that must be learned in every Western capital. The price of stopping Putin today is weapons and money for Ukraine. The price of stopping Putin tomorrow is war on the territory of NATO countries. History has never seen a case where concessions to empires of evil led to peace,
Reminder
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved a special 40-day operation of influence on Russia for the Security Service of Ukraine, the main goal of which is to force the aggressor state to end the war. According to the head of state, the operation involves the implementation of a plan of so-called "long-range sanctions" — systematic strikes on military, logistics, and industrial facilities on Russian territory that support the war against Ukraine.
As part of the operation, Ukrainian forces systematically target oil refining infrastructure, defense industry enterprises, airfields, military logistics, and other facilities that support the war against Ukraine.