Dare I say it? Is Vladimir Putin finally circling the toilet bowl of history?

It’s too early to tell, of course, and no one can possibly know what the wily Russian president is thinking these days. But the West is getting little hints that perhaps, perhaps, Putin’s power may be crumbling, in both Moscow and Ukraine.

Putin Turning on His Inner Circle

Putin doesn’t take well to critics — that much we know. And, since the invasion of Ukraine hasn’t gone quite as well as he had envisioned, some of his inner circle haven’t been happy with the boss. So Putin has turned on them for their lack of loyalty. Remember how he said he would “purify” Russia of traitors?

Take, for instance, Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu. Right after Putin started his purge of “traitors,” Shoigu disappeared from the public with “heart problems.” Shoigu hadn’t been seen in nearly two weeks, until a video of him surfaced — a video which appeared to be old. The Pentagon also revealed on Wednesday that they haven’t been able to contact Shoigu — or many other Kremlin military officials.

Moreover, Putin has ordered the arrests of other senior military commanders. He has accused them of squandering fuel or of failed intelligence — things that he claims have led to his failures in Ukraine. Plus, he also ordered the house arrest of Colonel-General Sergey Beseda, the chief of the “Fifth Service” of the Federal Security Service (FSB), along with deputy Anatoly Bolyuk. As for longtime ally and head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, reports are that Putin isn’t getting along with him, either. And Bortnikov is rumored to be the official Putin has appointed to take over in case of a coup.

Shades of Joseph Stalin.

Imgur.com. Public domain.

On top of that, another Putin ally, Anatoly Chubais, the man who helped privatize the economy of Russia, and thereby paved the way for the oligarchy, has resigned. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that “Chubais has resigned of his own will. But whether he has left [Russia] or stayed, that’s his personal affair.”

The West Pushes Back on Putin

Vladimir Putin certainly thought that he would waltz into Ukraine within a matter of days. But four weeks later he’s largely paralyzed. Plus, the West is pushing back on him for his atrocities.

On Friday, a confirmed video of the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the Mariupol theater was released. As you recall, the theater had been a refuge for city’s citizens, who had painted the word “children” outside the building. The idea, of course, was to appeal to the Russians to not bomb the theater.

It didn’t work. Three hundred innocent people died there.

The West has also learned the name of the Russian officer who has been responsible for the bombings of civilians in Mariupol: Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev. Mizintsev also ordered the bombing of the maternity hospital in that city, and has received the moniker of “the butcher of Mariupol.”

No wonder countries in the West are turning their backs on Putin. And such actions are resulting in many nations pushing back. The United Nations, for example, is considering whether or not to label these bombings as war crimes. The European Union and the US have devised a plan to wean Europe off Russian fuels. On Thursday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used an EU video address to chew out Hungarian president Viktor Orban for opposing a ban on Russian fuels. He also got personal:

“I visited your waterfront. I saw this memorial. Listen, Viktor, do you know what’s going on in Mariupol? Please if you can go to your waterfront, and you will see how mass killings can happen again in today’s world. And that’s what Russia is doing today.”

Russia Losing Ground in Ukraine

Not only are countries in the West piling on Vladimir Putin, but he also appears to be revising his goals in Ukraine.

Russia has been unable to take the capital city of Kyiv. Moreover, it looks as if they’ve lost control of Kherson, the first major city that Russia was able to conquer, according to a senior Pentagon official. Losing Kherson is a major blow to Russia, since it makes it harder for them to seize control of the Black Sea port of Odessa. The loss also endangers troops in the nearby city of Mykolayiv.

As a result, Maj. General Sergei Rudskoi said that his military would be focusing on taking on Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbas. As far as Kyiv goes — the aforementioned Pentagon official said that “they don’t show any sign of being able to move on Kyiv from the ground.” The official also said:

“Clearly, they overestimated their ability to take Kyiv and overestimated their ability to take any population center.”

There will be more bloodshed and more refugees fleeing the country in the weeks to come. But Vladimir Putin has screwed the pooch in his attempt to conquer Ukraine. And now, as his control over some top officials is crumbling, we should review the question that Sen. Lindsey Graham asked early in March:

“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.”

The sooner the better, Sen. Graham. The sooner the better.

Featured image: Vassilis Sgs/flickr/altered/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.