Why Vladimir Putin seems stronger now than he was a year ago

By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham

Vladmir Putin appears far stronger now than he did at any other time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukrainian territory in February 2022.

On the ground Russian troops are pushing hard into Ukrainian territory and have captured several villages in the past two weeks alone. Plenty of other indicators, too, show Russia’s growing strength and suggest a future in which a Ukrainian, and western, defeat is becoming a more realistic possibility.

On the domestic…

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