Strategically unimpressive: Putin’s speech on May 9

Putin speaks at Victory Day parade. Hardly any speech had been so anticipated recently as Putin’s address at the military parade on May 9, and hardly any has been met with so much disappointment. The world expected some big gestures — from announcing general mobilization to committing suicide in public. Instead, we heard a rather … Continue reading Strategically unimpressive: Putin’s speech on May 9 →

Why Putin avoids talking about the war in Ukraine

Russian version below. Русская версия внизу. I’ve analyzed Putin’s speech during diverse public appearances using the transcripts from the official website kremlin.ru. The data clearly indicate that he is not as keen on talking about the “special military operation” in Ukraine, as he was in the end of February. The graph below shows the relative … Continue reading Why Putin avoids talking about the war in Ukraine →

“Structural transformation”

This week the most brilliant language user has been Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Central Bank of Russia. She predicted that the Russian economy will soon reach the stage of "structural transformation" because of the sanctions. This was a very clever euphemism for the economy becoming less effective, less profitable and more primitive. Bravo, … Continue reading “Structural transformation” →