Putin Can't Pay As His Control Splinters - Jason Jay Smart

[TexasTowelie]

The Kremlin's central authority is fragmenting, and that's all because they're very tight on cash. We see the cracks now appearing in three distinct places, all at one time. We see it in the money, we see it in the command chain, and now we see it in the security situation.

This financial drought is destabilizing the entire structure. The Russian command chain is hitting a fragmented stage as payroll stress and the recruitment trap outpace the state's ability to fund domestic stability. Sanctions have forced the Kremlin into a high-risk shadow pipeline where every transaction introduces a new structural failure. China now prices the logistics and the risk, leaving the administration vulnerable to digital throttling and governance failures.

Local command is degrading into bargaining behavior as governors face extraction demands they cannot meet without triggering a payroll crisis. This internal breakdown occurs while global scrutiny is thinned by the Mexico security crisis, yet the domestic perimeter has already been breached. The recent shooting of a senior GRU officer in Moscow confirms the capital is no longer a safe zone for insiders; the system has stopped protecting its own elite.

These indicators, from rail bottlenecks to abrupt personnel purges, point to a regime beginning to consume itself. Driven by paranoia, the center is making reckless decisions that widen gaps in discipline, trading long-term survival for a brittle illusion of control.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro: The Kremlin’s Financial Fragmentation
00:56 - Russia's Oil Crisis: The Sanctions Evasion Trap
03:27 - Putin’s Power Struggle: The Regional Rebellion Risk
05:42 - Russia’s Losing Strategy: Why Putin Fears Capitulation
07:25 - Kremlin Censorship: Putin’s War on Internet Freedom
08:20 - PIA VPN: Protecting Your Digital Privacy
09:39 - China's Real Agenda: The Liquidation of Modern Russia
11:43 - Russia’s Infrastructure Decay: The $52B Railway Debt
13:30 - Putin’s Final Gamble: Exploiting Western Naivety