Russia is in trouble internally

[Margery]

I've been trying to keep up with news out of Russia. Real news. Not western media but people like Inside Russia who report what they know from friends and relations still inside Russia.

He reported this 4 weeks ago. IS PUTIN SET TO DISAPPEAR? - YouTube

and this a few days ago - YouTube in which he reports something the West wouldn't understand at all but almost every Russian knows instinctively. The value of a "strong man leader" something Putin used to be.

also a few days ago, the cracks are showing between Putin and Russia's Central Bank - YouTube

Putin's desperately trying to survive as leader in Russia and the natives there are getting restless and cranky. His economy is in free fall, he's had to kiss the Koran to survive which isn't winning him any votes amongst the Russian voters. The war in Ukraine is a stale mate and his losses continue to mount up.

All these goals involving the former glory of the USSR may have been in the back of his head when he took Crimea (under Obama) and tried invading Ukraine (under Biden) but the thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is how quiet he was EVERYWHERE when Trump was in power.

Now his military age males are dying like flies in Ukraine, his domestic economy is suffering severe hardship to the point of starting food rationing again (you need those military age men to keep production in agriculture, mining, factories etc) and the women at home are trying to raise fatherless children, work their jobs (pay is dropping, jobs are disappearing and the economy is tanking). Russia is shrinking it's economy, it's production, it's ability to be a threat.

It's having to turn to it's domestic terrorists and their mercenary army - the local muslims of Chechnya and Dagestan just to keep Putin propped up in power.

The Wagner group remnants are the only other group projecting power by Russia and they've pulled out of Syria over to Libya. Russia is currently in decline.

Just like it was during the final years of Reagan and Gorbachev. What happened in Russia after that was horrific. It's happening again. Putin's days are numbered. It's a very real question of whether he will last till Trump takes over in Washington. Or for anytime thereafter. Russia is about to undergo one of their convulsions- a sudden revolutionary change of some sort. Possibly even a takeover by the Muslim minority. It's been about 100 plus years since the Revolution, about 30 years since the fall of the USSR in 91.

The next 4 years under Trump will likely see some type of Russia Ukraine ceasefire, allowing both sides to recover for a few years which would allow Russia to prepare for Gog Magog.

Because of Ezek 38 in the future, AND because of the current economic situation within Russia they simply CANNOT engage in any other invasions or wars.

One final point. Russians love a "strong man" leader. Putin projected that. It's how Russians feel safe and secure in the world. Putin is no longer a "strong man". It remains to be seen who will replace him, but unless something drastic happens soon, Putin is history and Russia is looking for a strong man to lead.

Putin has even gone past his window of opportunity to use small tactical nukes on Ukrainian major cities. If he were to do so, he would risk outright rebellion across all of Russia in the losses of his remaining men still fighting on those fronts. He is on a knife edge as it is with the domestic economy failing so badly.

It's been interesting watching leaders suddenly removed in this past year. From Trump being elected and the Dems removed in the States, France's Macron in trouble, Germany too, Canada is in a slo motion train wreck. Syria.

All over the world and I think Russia is about to make some changes, big ones. I'm not sure Putin will survive them.

 

[Tall Timbers]

More often than not, or should I say, with rare exception, big changes in this fallen world are usually for the worse. Chechens taking over all of Russia would be interesting to say the least, and it appears right now that the Chechens may be the superior power when things implode in Russia.

 

[KMendel]

Hmmmm..........new "strong man" decides to be drawn by a hook in his jaw, and goes out to take a spoil to refill the koffers of
mother Russia??? Yeah, I can see that happening.

 

[Margery]

And right now Turkey has more of the upper hand in Turkish Russian relations. This source is a so called Independent Russian news organization that I like to balance off what I'm hearing from Konstantin. It is much closer to the Russian Tass, Pravda and Izvestia sources in it's attitudes. But it reflects the thinking within Russia among those who don't agree with the war in Ukraine, who don't agree with Putin's programs and who question things.

It's interesting to see how the Syrian uprising affects the relationship between Russia and Turkey, both key players with Iran in the future Gog Magog invasion of Israel (Ezek 38-39)

What Does Regime Change in Syria Mean for Russian-Turkish Relations? - The Moscow Times

Opinion | Russia has reportedly asked Turkey for assistance in withdrawing its troops from Syria.

www.themoscowtimes.com

"Russia has reportedly asked Turkey for assistance in withdrawing its troops from Syria. Mere weeks ago, such a headline would have been hard to imagine. Yet in the wake of the jaw-dropping collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the report by CNN Türk has a credible ring to it.

Russian troops stationed in various parts of Syria, such as the central desert and the Kurdish-populated northeast, appear to have returned to Russia’s military bases in Latakia province, and according to GUR, Ukraine’s military intelligence, Russia has been airlifting military personnel and equipment back home.

The fate of those bases — Russia’s Khmeimim airfield and naval facility at Tartus — is a matter of speculation. The Russians may well have no choice but to abandon them, unless they are able to secure a deal with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) allowing them to stay on. Russian media have overnight rebranded the Islamist militia that toppled Assad from “terrorists” to “armed Syrian opposition.”

Whatever scenario materializes, one thing is beyond doubt. The power dynamic between Russia and Türkiye has shifted. Now Ankara clearly has the upper hand."

that is obviously making Russia uncomfortable. Turkey is a Nato partner, part of the Islamic nations on Russia's southern and eastern flank. For many reasons Russia doesn't trust Turkey. Nor should they.

History shows the conflict between Russia and Islam, with Turkey's Ottoman Empire as an ancient enemy of the Russian Orthodox church and the Russian Tsars.

Another little pivot towards the Islamic nations. Maybe part of the answer to the puzzling question WHY? Why would Russia - historically against Islam join with a bunch of Islamic countries (Iran, Turkey, Libya, Sudan) to invade Israel? Beyond the troubling aspect of Russia's ancient antisemitism, -this strange alliance with Islamic countries that were bent on conquest of Russia.

The fact that Putin's Russia is NOT in the drivers seat of this relationship anymore, and is being hard pressed in Ukraine, driven out of Syria and unable to exert itself elsewhere is geopolitical suicide for Putin in the eyes of his people.

 

[bigMoose]

Margery with your sources and wide reading... do you have an estimate of the real losses in KIA and wounded for both Ukraine and Russia? I have seen so much variation from 70K KIA to 400K... and that number applied to both sides. I think that number if we could discern it, would help to explain a lot.

 

[Margery]

Margery with your sources and wide reading... do you have an estimate of the real losses in KIA and wounded for both Ukraine and Russia? I have seen so much variation from 70K KIA to 400K... and that number applied to both sides. I think that number if we could discern it, would help to explain a lot.

No, I wouldn't dare to even hazard a guess.

I think it's way more than the official figures if that is any help. But how much more, haven't a clue. Russia and Ukraine both play with their numbers, and the NATO people seem to adjust the figures depending on the angle of the story they push.

 

[Cheeky200386]

Wow, I don't much about the history of Islam or Russia so it's fascinating to read all of your thoughts @Margery

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Praying for our Russian Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Fortunately, the Orthodox church in the east never lost sight of islam as their enemy, so hopefully the Christians and the Church are prepared for the coming persecution. Last I knew, Lutheran church there is prepared, as they've faced it from the state Russian Orthodox Church and the State, itself, since early in the 20th Century (and maybe before).
The Jewish people there have no illusions or rose-colored glasses. Pogroms etched onto their collective soul.

It never ends well for Christians and Jewish people when muslims take over and impose sharia.

Wonder if USSR/Gog or the US will be under sharia first?

 

[TCC]

Thanks for the details Margery. In a way I would be sad to see Putin go. He just seemed like a staple world leader. I don't know if Trump extending an olive branch to Putin might help his strength imagine. I mean, I would see that Trump would want a strong Russia (for their people) and both a strong Russia and Ukraine without globalist manipulation. But yeah, it certainly does not look good for Putin. As tricky as Putin can be, I guess I could see him as leading Ez 38. Especially if it were to save his own country (in his mind). But it might make more sense of new Russian blood to be the culprit. I guess the one thing we could say is: It does not look like Russia will be starting WW3, without Trump really needing to even negotiate peace. Blessings.

 

[Margery]

Thanks for the details Margery. In a way I would be sad to see Putin go. He just seemed like a staple world leader. I don't know if Trump extending an olive branch to Putin might help his strength imagine. I mean, I would see that Trump would want a strong Russia (for their people) and both a strong Russia and Ukraine without globalist manipulation. But yeah, it certainly does not look good for Putin. As tricky as Putin can be, I guess I could see him as leading Ez 38. Especially if it were to save his own country (in his mind). But it might make more sense of new Russian blood to be the culprit. I guess the one thing we could say is: It does not look like Russia will be starting WW3, without Trump really needing to even negotiate peace. Blessings.

You are very right - Putin in his own way has been a stable world leader- He rose in the aftermath of the horrific financial crash after Gorbachev and the fall of the USSR. He's former KGB now SVR and FSB- and his power base has always been rooted in the old KGB.

My in laws were expat Russians out of China where they grew up, met and married after the Russian Revolution drove their families out of Russia. My late husband George was born in Shanghai, during the Chinese Revolution and they escaped that disaster to rebuild their lives again in Canada.

Father in law LOVED keeping up with Russian politics, particularly after he was able to read the news out of Russia online in the later internet years. He had worked for the Canadian govt at times as a technical liaison with visiting Russian science teams but was an engineer in his day job. So he knew people living there thru the crisis. He and mother in law would send the teams home with gifts they could sell on the black market for needed food. So thru them I got to know what Russians went thru in those difficult years.

Father in law was very very interested in HOW Putin came to power, and the people behind him in the KGB. In fact I still have a book of his, written by Andrei A. Kovalev, called Russia's Dead End. In the last years before he died we would talk a lot about this rise to power and what was actually going on in Russia.

George my beloved husband, used to write Rebekah Koffler every once in a while, and he subscribed to her husbands newsletter, later her newsletter. It's free to subscribe, it's Cut To The News, and it's a good aggregate of news out of Washington DC. Cut to the News – Cut through the clutter and the liberal bias She was a Russian who emigrated and worked the Russian side of things for the CIA till Obama's years. We bought her book Putin's Playbook after Father in Law died and I wish I could have talked about it with him.

Rebekah said a LOT of the same things as Father in Law did, same warnings.

She is a lot like Phil Haney who wrote See Something Say Nothing and ended up murdered. Both of them spoke out against Obama's methods of dealing with foreign powers interfering in the States. She has a new book coming out in April 2025 called American Bolsheviks The Persecution of Donald Trump and the Sovietization of the United States of America Better believe I'm getting a copy!

Like Solzhenitsyn she is shocked at the way America has adopted many of the Soviet style ways of doing things. Starting in the universities, but extending from there to primary and secondary schools, workplaces and politics.

If Putin survives these hard times in Russia right now, or if someone else succeeds him, either way, it's interesting to watch how the Lord uses history unfolding to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy.

Even though I think there is some rough and bumpy stuff ahead for Russia, we know they have to be in good enough shape to launch the Ezek 38 invasion and have the respect of the Islamic partners in that invasion. We also know that the other nations don't put up a fuss other than that weak question in Ezek 38 "have you come for spoil?"

 

[Spartan Sprinter]

You are very right - Putin in his own way has been a stable world leader- He rose in the aftermath of the horrific financial crash after Gorbachev and the fall of the USSR. He's former KGB now SVR and FSB- and his power base has always been rooted in the old KGB.

My in laws were expat Russians out of China where they grew up, met and married after the Russian Revolution drove their families out of Russia. My late husband George was born in Shanghai, during the Chinese Revolution and they escaped that disaster to rebuild their lives again in Canada.

Father in law LOVED keeping up with Russian politics, particularly after he was able to read the news out of Russia online in the later internet years. He had worked for the Canadian govt at times as a technical liaison with visiting Russian science teams but was an engineer in his day job. So he knew people living there thru the crisis. He and mother in law would send the teams home with gifts they could sell on the black market for needed food. So thru them I got to know what Russians went thru in those difficult years.

Father in law was very very interested in HOW Putin came to power, and the people behind him in the KGB. In fact I still have a book of his, written by Andrei A. Kovalev, called Russia's Dead End. In the last years before he died we would talk a lot about this rise to power and what was actually going on in Russia.

George my beloved husband, used to write Rebekah Koffler every once in a while, and he subscribed to her husbands newsletter, later her newsletter. It's free to subscribe, it's Cut To The News, and it's a good aggregate of news out of Washington DC. Cut to the News – Cut through the clutter and the liberal bias She was a Russian who emigrated and worked the Russian side of things for the CIA till Obama's years. We bought her book Putin's Playbook after Father in Law died and I wish I could have talked about it with him.

Rebekah said a LOT of the same things as Father in Law did, same warnings.

She is a lot like Phil Haney who wrote See Something Say Nothing and ended up murdered. Both of them spoke out against Obama's methods of dealing with foreign powers interfering in the States. She has a new book coming out in April 2025 called American Bolsheviks The Persecution of Donald Trump and the Sovietization of the United States of America Better believe I'm getting a copy!

Like Solzhenitsyn she is shocked at the way America has adopted many of the Soviet style ways of doing things. Starting in the universities, but extending from there to primary and secondary schools, workplaces and politics.

If Putin survives these hard times in Russia right now, or if someone else succeeds him, either way, it's interesting to watch how the Lord uses history unfolding to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy.

Even though I think there is some rough and bumpy stuff ahead for Russia, we know they have to be in good enough shape to launch the Ezek 38 invasion and have the respect of the Islamic partners in that invasion. We also know that the other nations don't put up a fuss other than that weak question in Ezek 38 "have you come for spoil?"

Yep and what if Israel does end up bombing the nuclear faciltiies in January?

Does this mean that all of the prophecies regarding Israel and it's enemies will speed up to warpspeed and we are outta here or will it spook Israel's enemies even more and just cause a slow down in prophetic speed temporarily whilst they regroup and plot against Israel's downfall as a coalition.

So many possibilities to ponder.

 

[Margery]

Yep and what if Israel does end up bombing the nuclear faciltiies in January?

Does this mean that all of the prophecies regarding Israel and it's enemies will speed up to warpspeed and we are outta here or will it spook Israel's enemies even more and just cause a slow down in prophetic speed temporarily whilst they regroup and plot against Israel's downfall as a coalition.

So many possibilities to ponder.

I don't know, but like you say, so many possibilities.

I just picked up a rumour about how Trump will force peace on Ukraine, get the American's out from under the Ukrainian debt load, get Nato to pay their own way AND help Putin end this thing. I decided to launch a different thread on it, but if it works, this saves Putin and Russia from a complete meltdown at this point.

 

[mattfivefour]

it's interesting to watch how the Lord uses history unfolding to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy.

I'm not taking issue with what you say, Marge; but I often wonder when we say what you just said whether we are actually correct. Is God guiding things to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy? Or God with His foreknowledge already knows what's going to happen and when He made the prophecies it was because He saw what was going to happen. In other words He doesn't need to shape anything: He just lets it progress as He has seen it would progress since before the beginning of time.

This is kind of a rabbit hole because the end result is the same; so, I'm kind of sorry I'm raising it. But it's just something that's tugged at my mind. Yes, it is amazing if God is actually shaping what's taking place; but to me it's even more amazing that He saw it all before it ever began.

(Okay, I'll return to my personal corner now.)

 

[Spartan Sprinter]

I don't know, but like you say, so many possibilities.

I just picked up a rumour about how Trump will force peace on Ukraine, get the American's out from under the Ukrainian debt load, get Nato to pay their own way AND help Putin end this thing. I decided to launch a different thread on it, but if it works, this saves Putin and Russia from a complete meltdown at this point.

Sounds like Trump may have a tough task ahead.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/russia-rejects-trump-transition-teams-floated-ideas-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine/news-story/a5f6d6a961606a1c142d41218fa9263f

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

I'm not taking issue with what you say, Marge; but I often wonder when we say what you just said whether we are actually correct. Is God guiding things to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy? Or God with His foreknowledge already knows what's going to happen and when He made the prophecies it was because He saw what was going to happen. In other words He doesn't need to shape anything: He just lets it progress as He has seen it would progress since before the beginning of time.

This is kind of a rabbit hole because the end result is the same; so, I'm kind of sorry I'm raising it. But it's just something that's tugged at my mind. Yes, it is amazing if God is actually shaping what's taking place; but to me it's even more amazing that He saw it all before it ever began.

(Okay, I'll return to my personal corner now.)

God is both omniscient and all-powerful.

So, He could be doing all of one or the other, or some of both

Either way, God's plan is perfect, and everything will happen in accordance with God's perfect timing and to serve the purposes of His Will.

 

[Margery]

I'm not taking issue with what you say, Marge; but I often wonder when we say what you just said whether we are actually correct. Is God guiding things to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy? Or God with His foreknowledge already knows what's going to happen and when He made the prophecies it was because He saw what was going to happen. In other words He doesn't need to shape anything: He just lets it progress as He has seen it would progress since before the beginning of time.

This is kind of a rabbit hole because the end result is the same; so, I'm kind of sorry I'm raising it. But it's just something that's tugged at my mind. Yes, it is amazing if God is actually shaping what's taking place; but to me it's even more amazing that He saw it all before it ever began.

(Okay, I'll return to my personal corner now.)

I wonder that too! It's kind of hard to put it into words though. We are stuck in time like flies on flypaper. We can't fly up off the flat flypaper to see the panorama. Our language reflects that. and worse yet we know about the past but we are forever propelled thru time towards the future. It's a one way trip.

I think it's a VERY worthwhile rabbit trail, because it deals with God and the nature of Time. God is the master of Time, He is not stuck in the flypaper. He is here, and present but not trapped like we are by time. I got there by thinking about the nature of God's name for Himself I AM. That implies far more than eternal existence. It implies a present tense at all times. That was when I got interested in Quantum physics. Just because of God calling Himself I AM.

I am interested in the physics of Time because we are stuck going forwards thru it. We can't go into the past. But God not only sees it all, He is Omnipresent in all time at the same time- being Omnipresent in time itself.

There is a unique property of photons, the particles of light. They are both a particle and a wave so the physics people, don't come for me, I know.

But the property I'm fascinated by is something called entanglement. Photons can "communicate" with each other light years apart. And Time doesn't seem to affect them. I've wondered if we simply intersect their waves at just the right plane to experience them as light but they are interconnected on another dimension with us just experiencing them as individual photons.

It's kind of astonishing. I used to enjoy reading about that and the different dimensions. A rabbi in the 1600s I think it was came up with the number of dimensions based on something in the Bible. I never found out what his reasoning was, simply that it took hundreds of years for the Quantum physics buffs to catch up to his insight. I think his number was one of the main contenders. There's a few different theories floating around about the number of actual/possible dimensions and his happened to be the top pick. Go figure.

 

[mattfivefour]

I too am fascinated by time, Marge. And I too have the same view about God. I think there's no doubt that His name I AM means that He is at all times and in all places because He exists outside of time. Therefore God sees the beginning the middle and the end all as though they were at the same time. I've tried to wrap my head around it and I can't. I read Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time in the hope it would help me understand the concept of time and being outside of time. Instead it confused me even more. So I appreciate your input.

 

[Matthew6:33]

The devil you know is usually better than the one you don't.

 

[1LoverofGod]

Russia enters 2025 at a crossroads in a post-Assad Middle East - analysis​

Russia is at a crossroads in the Middle East, having lost its Syrian ally with the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Having seen major changes in Damascus, Russia faces a setback in terms of influence. Its forces in Syria are being withdrawn. It will want to preserve something, but its military footprint seems likely to be reduced to near-zero.

Russia will continue to have its close ties with Iran, while also still working with China. Russia is part of the growing number of countries that want to create a multi-polar world order.

With the incoming Trump administration, Russia likely hopes the US might find a way to make a deal in Ukraine in which Moscow gets some of what it wants.

The Ukraine war has isolated Russia in Europe and many countries that were once keen on appeasing Moscow or plugging Europe’s energy needs into Russia, no longer rely on Moscow. This is important because it has meant there is a kind of inflection point. Russia is now heading in another direction.
Complete Article

Russia enters 2025 at a crossroads in a post-Assad Middle East - analysis

Having lost it's Syrian ally in the former Assad regime, Russia is shifting forces from Syria to other places.

m.jpost.com

 

[TCC]

I'm not taking issue with what you say, Marge; but I often wonder when we say what you just said whether we are actually correct. Is God guiding things to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy? Or God with His foreknowledge already knows what's going to happen and when He made the prophecies it was because He saw what was going to happen. In other words He doesn't need to shape anything: He just lets it progress as He has seen it would progress since before the beginning of time.

This is kind of a rabbit hole because the end result is the same; so, I'm kind of sorry I'm raising it. But it's just something that's tugged at my mind. Yes, it is amazing if God is actually shaping what's taking place; but to me it's even more amazing that He saw it all before it ever began.

(Okay, I'll return to my personal corner now.)

And what is also amazing when considering these things you bring up Pastor Adrian is what impact in how we are looking at things might impact our tendency to sensationalism our own views. There is certainly no shortage of our age being the age of sensationalizing. At the same time, our age is the age of insane action occuring right before us. The level of deception and manipulation is certainly larger than life, amen.

Having said that, I believe there is consideration for quite the curve ball. The best way to introduce the curve ball is somewhat by familiar example. Please keep in mind in this example, I ask please to consider what I am sharing outside the perameters of my personal convictions on the seals. Aside from that, it is interesting to note that the first 4 judgement cycles to hit earth at the tribulation point are horsemen. Why?

In some ways I might consider seal 5 to also be a horseman. But just saying that here to assist thoughts outside of convention. The reason I might consider seal 5 a horseman is because it is "of the earth." It is persecution from men. Horse 4 is kind of harder to do this with because of its overtures to personifying death and hades. But Seal six looks not like "of the earth." And then the set of 7 trumpets and 7 bowls also transcend just judgements cycling out of the commons, to sort of speak (for trumpet 6 because of the 5 trumpets prior that primed what trumpets do--this seemingly earthy war would tend to have a supernatural element to it--can we say the same about seal 4? Perhaps). So there might be some holes in this view (however there might be an escalation factor also included in seals--like mostly earthy...building up momentum toward seal 6 with its supernatural motif & perhaps and then the inverse with trumpets [being mostly outside the natural here cascading into a semi-commons of men and earthy war "trumpet 6" climax]). But its worth considering in that it would seem that at least the 1st 3 seals seem to come up out of the commons.

That is important in one sense in particular as it relates to the issue you struggle in with your post. And that is: Is what we are watching just humanity naturally going mad, or is it God performing prophecy? I would suggest that it would seem that the beginning seals seem to surround this observation of yours by detailing perhaps that the gravity and formation of seals initially may have more to do with super humanity focus perhaps more than super natural focus. And in an age of sensationalizing, we might tend to super build up a supernatural sense to things God Himself might have ordained to be judgements that come out of the commons more than BAM! Some super natural interface with our reality.

If we take this view with a can of steroids, it might just be that the super sizing men's leadership realm be like the super commons occuring. What is common as exaggerating or exaggerated...but yet still very common and very of the earth. And if that is the influx, and enchrouching impact, then looking at what "the commons" is doing and becoming might be far more an exercise in understanding prophecy MORE SO perhaps than overlaying what is going on with a supernatural superimposing of scripture we might not exactly know how calibrates upon our social moment.

The simplest way of saying this might be: Perhaps God fulfills his end time corralling via common things of earth as they play out MORE SO than some sensationalistic interplay with the human relations sphere. And to highlight this, perhaps that when we even get to the first actual seal judgements of the tribulation...even there in entry way...the commons is sparking so much it can only result in a "commons fire" of sorts...thus the seals also being of the commons.

And if we calibrate for this consideration, it might grant us far more insight into ear to the ground discoveries of end time unfolding event accuracy than if we try too hard to pull our understanding of scripture verses overlaying the commons. In that sense perhaps trying too hard to overlay our scriptural blueprints onto events of the commons might be the exact wrong way to understand how deeply God Himself might have ordained for said judgements to arrise out of the commons more than "how we might see" to match and overlay our own understanding of scripture upon them. If that makes sense? lol. Blessings.