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
