The Economist – The Humbling of Vladimir Putin 

THE ECONOMIST SAYS the last pretence of Vladimir Putin to be, as he imagines, one of his nation’s historic rulers was stripped away on June 24th. A band of armed mercenaries swept through his country almost unopposed, covering some 750km (470 miles) in a single day, seizing control of two big cities and getting to within 200km of Moscow before withdrawing unharmed.

Mr Putin long ago failed as a reformer, having presided over ever-deepening corruption and economic stagnation and being unable to make Russia anything more than a purveyor of hydrocarbons just as the age of oil and gas is coming to an end. He is failing ever more obvious as a great wartime commander, 16 months after starting an invasion of Ukraine that he expected to be over in a matter of days but which has turned into a quagmire. Now he has shown that he cannot even discharge a leader’s first and greatest responsibility, to ensure the security of the state.

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