Power grids exploding. Soldiers unpaid. Cities running on generators.
Putin says Russia’s economy is untouchable. Konstantin from Inside Russia says that’s a lie.
He lived it, and what he describes sounds less like strength and more like survival on borrowed time.
We cover:
• Why Western sanctions are finally cutting off the oxygen
• How oil giants like Rosneft and Lukoil are scrambling for cash
• What life looks like when prices rise and supplies vanish overnight
• Why Russia’s best engineers and developers are leaving faster than they can be replaced
• And how one wrong move could send the entire system crashing
Konstantin says Russia’s economy isn’t dying quietly.
It’s bleeding out in real time, and Putin can’t stop it.
02:02 – “Moscow is not Russia,” wealth versus decay beyond the capital
03:55 – From wild 90s freedom to Putin’s tightening grip
05:47 – The social contract: stay quiet and live comfortably
07:09 – The invasion ends that contract overnight
07:20 – The economic panic as companies flee
08:30 – Competing narratives: collapse or resilience
09:17 – How Russia stumbled into a war it did not plan for
10:50 – Shock and chaos among Russian officials
12:55 – Propaganda scrambles to invent justifications
14:30 – The instant exodus of Western companies
16:30 – Ikea, Apple, McDonald’s, and the first wave of panic
17:28 – Russia forbids dollar withdrawals to stop the run
18:40 – How Putin’s “war economy” kept the system alive
19:16 – Oil prices surge, saving Russia for two years
20:22 – Who blew up Nord Stream and who benefited most
21:04 – Why the U.S. gained as Europe lost Russian gas
22:19 – Decades of cheap energy end overnight
23:28 – How Russia gave Europe’s market to America
24:11 – The self-inflicted wound that wrecked Gazprom’s future
25:25 – The economic unraveling begins
26:25 – The perfect storm of sanctions, exodus, and brain drain
28:05 – Millions leave, the professionals among them
29:10 – War spending drains the “savings account”
30:12 – Putin’s reserves are drying up
31:48 – GDP myths and fake data inside Russia
32:25 – The illusion of growth built on war production
33:44 – Military factories slow and layoffs begin
35:03 – “The party’s over,” Russia hits zero growth
35:45 – Why Putin still refuses to end the war
37:29 – The Titanic analogy: lights on, hull already flooded
40:00 – Blackouts, shortages, and the slow collapse
42:00 – Siemens leaves, turbines fail, power plants decay
43:12 – Why China cannot replace Western tech
44:40 – The lagging effect of sanctions now hitting home
45:10 – Putin escalates war as protests begin to spread
46:50 – Early sparks of unrest across Russian cities
47:55 – Prices soar, infrastructure breaks down
49:01 – Fear inside Putin’s own circle grows
50:36 – Why he cannot stop the war without losing power
52:05 – The danger of returning soldiers and shrinking spoils
52:58 – Why the “territory win” is a poisoned prize
54:30 – Putin’s miscalculation as NATO grows stronger
56:20 – Mario challenges NATO’s role and the red line argument
57:55 – Konstantin’s rebuttal: “Diplomacy, not invasion”
59:03 – The myth of NATO encirclement
01:01:46 – How Putin turned NATO from partner to enemy for politics
01:03:02 – Why he really invaded Ukraine: falling ratings and stagnation
01:05:33 – The plan for a quick regime change gone wrong
01:06:52 – “He wanted control, not blood,” but the war trapped him
01:07:29 – Mario proposes future debates with data-driven experts
