Reality Always Wins | Is Putin in Trouble?
In his latest Reality Always Wins post, Paul Saunders flags a curious trio of articles he spotted on the front page of Russia’s official government newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta. Read together—a practical guide to coping with mobile internet outages disrupting Moscow life, a defensive enumeration of Ukrainian ceasefire violations, and a piece musing about whether Donald Trump might secure a third term as America’s “savior”—they hint at a Kremlin newly attentive to domestic discontent and the need to justify Putin’s continued grip on power. Saunders remains skeptical that Putin faces serious political pressure at home, but explains why this small editorial tableau has him watching more closely.