Politico named Russian President Vladimir Putin “a loser of 2024” in its “Brussels Playbook” briefing. Putin has been declared “a loser of the year” for the third time in a row by Politico.
First and foremost, year 2025 marks the third anniversary of the notorious promise by Russian dictator to “seize Kyiv in three days”. Yet Ukraine stands firm and conducts its operation in Russian territory, namely the Kursk region.
“Does anyone remember Russian President Vladimir Putin’s promise to conquer Ukraine in a three-day special operation? Well, that continued to go poorly in 2024 as Ukraine not only held back Russia’s assaults but also seized a chunk of Russian territory during the Kursk offensive (operation in the region bordering with Ukraine – ed.)”, Politico editors state.
Moreover, Politico emphasizes that the Russian economy is “overheated” due to inflation and high level of unemployment as the result of war against Ukraine.
Putin abandoned his Syrian fellow-dictator Bashar Al-Assad, having spent billions of dollars ofthe support for the dictatorship in Syria, including hundreds and thousands of air strikes by Russian Air Force and land operations by Russian private military companies like Wagner Group.
Also, Kremlin has lost its foothold in various regions of Africa, where Wagner Group has supported different factions. Most notably, Russians have felt their defeat in Mali, where Tuareg tribes trained by the Ukrainian GUR instructors (Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence – ed.) have obliterated Russian Wagner mercenaries.
And the final cherry on the pie of Putin’s geopolitical fiasco is the downing of the Azeri civilian aircraft by Russian air defence, for which Moscow had to apologize, even though the Kremlin hasn’t officially admitted its role in the downing of the plane.
All of the aforementioned is taking place against the backdrop of constant and deepening economic sanctions against Russia, which are drowning Putin’s resources for the bloody and unjustified war against Ukraine.