Introduction:
Russia thrives on conflict and chaos like fennec foxes thrive in deserts. For more than five and half centuries, before the days of the first officially crowned czar, Ivan the Terrible (1547 – 1584), Russia has been embroidered in unending conflicts, chaos and conquests. The Soviet Union at its peak in the 20th century, its 15 republics, most of it forged by war, accounted for roughly 17% of total land surface of the earth (more than 22 million square kilometers). Currently, the Federation of Russia, weaned of its 14 breakaway republics, is still the largest country in the world by some distance (Clark, 2026), almost twice the size of the U.S. (over 17 million square kilometers compared to nearly 10 million square kilometers). Indeed, it was Russia in 1867, under Czar Alexander II that sold Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million when Andrew Johnson was in the White House.
While Britain at the height of its imperial powers boasts of colonizing nearly a quarter of the earth’s surface (about 35.5 million square kilometers), Russia boasts of the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world (ICAN, 2026), and for nearly a century, Moscow has been a constant shadow dodging and influencing America’s foreign policy. For example, the North Alliance Treaty Organization (NATO) established in 1949, is a product of the Containment strategy recommended by Soviet Union specialist and American diplomat, George Kennan to President Truman’s administration and endorsed by Congress to protect U.S. investments made through the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe in 1947. The Truman Doctrine is another U.S. foreign policy stemming directly from the Containment strategy targeting Soviet Union. In the Cold War era and beyond, “Sojuz Sovetskich” continued to stretch the imagination of U.S. foreign policy makers, from navigating the Berlin Blockade in 1948, to issuing ultimatum for Soviet Union to vacate Iran in 1946; from picking the best option to confront the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 (Allison, 1962) to diffusing Russia’s threat of invasion of Poland in 1980 (Brzezinski, 2021); Russia matched the U.S. stride for stride in the international stage.
Also, Britain may boast of winning the Anglo – German naval arms race in the build up to WWI, however, after WWII, Russia held its grounds in the nuclear arms race with the U.S. and was an effective counterweight to the U.S. in the ensuing Cold War. When the U.S. tested atomic bomb in 1945, President Truman intended to brag and intimidate the Soviet Union with his “new weapon of unusual destructive force,” but Stalin, the Russian leader was unimpressed (History.com Editors, 2025) unknown to Americans, Russia’s extensive spy network was present in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Russia was the first country to launch a satellite into space in 1957, and this prompted the U.S. and its Western allies to establish the NATO Science Programme (NATO, 2026). It marked the beginning of the space race.
However, in spite of the Soviet Union’s military might, Moscow was economically unhealthy for so long. The much vaunted communism and its socialist doctrine stifled competition and innovation; and encouraged corruption and classism. Too much emphasis on militarization meant that so much resources were allocated to defense, leaving so little for welfare goods (Hirsi, 2020). A highly centralized political structure headed by the Communist Party meant that plurality of opinion was not tolerated. Dissent was punished severely to serve as deterrent to would-be dissenters. At home and abroad, the Soviet Union had eyes everywhere, and citizens within Soviet Union and its satellite states had little knowledge or view of Western world. It was not for nothing that states like Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, East Germany and others in Soviet Union’s orbit were referred to as “iron curtain” countries. While suffering and suppression were aplenty, there was uneasy quiet caused by fear. Then, suddenly, without firing a shot, help came from unexpected quarters.
Mikhail Gorbachev became Secretary General of the Communist Party on March 10, 1985. He was the first leader of the Communist Party born after the 1917 Revolution, but more noteworthy is the fact that he was a reformer and his reforms were encapsulated in two words, “perestroika,” meaning restructuring and “glasnost,” meaning openness. These two principles when applied to the highly restricted political structure and stagnant economy of Soviet Union had far-reaching consequences beyond the imagination and intension of Gorbachev the initiator. The democratization of the political space and the opening of the economy led to a chain of fast paced and tremulous events that spiraled out of the control of the reformer. It marked the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. Ultimately, it was Boris Yeltsin, the last Russian leader of note and benefactor of Vladimir Putin who served as undertaker of the hammer and sickle metaphor of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991 (BBC, 2022; Brown, 2017). It not unexpected that Putin holds the West responsible for the demise of the Soviet Union and this grudge has defined his more than a quarter century relationship with the West, especially the U.S. This article will return to the subjects of Putin and Russia in details, but first, it will undertake a commentary of Soviet leaders from the days of the czars in the 14th century to the Revolution in 1917 and to the present time.
Historical Perspective
The historical journey of the Federation of Russia is divided into three headings: Russia under the czars; Soviet Union after the 1917 Revolution and the Federation of Russia under Putin.
Russia Under the Czars
For many decades in the 13th century, Russia and its princes were subjects of the Mongols. Then in the 14th century Russian princes, beginning with Ivan I, took control of their political affairs. Russia’s political independence and recovery gathered momentum under Ivan III (Ivan the Great, 1462 – 1505) and he was responsible for annexing East Slavic territories either by conquest or voluntary submission to Russia. It was under Ivan the Great that the Battle of Ugra was fought and won by the Russian princes in 1480 to mark the end of Mongolian Tatar dominance (BBC, 2019). Also, it was Ivan the Great who laid the brass tacks for the centralized administrative structure of Russia (Lister and Fennell, 2026).
After the death of Ivan the Great, Russia witnessed a period of internal conflict involving its princes until January 16, 1547 when Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV), grandson of Ivan the Great was crowned the first “Czar and Grand Prince of all of Russia,” (Andreyev, 2026). He reorganized the political administration of the state by promoting meritocracy and shunning hereditary nobility (Ivan IV got the affixation “the Terrible” from his brutal war against the nobles). He gave the Christian faith a prominent place in the affairs of the Russian state and improved the battle-readiness of the army (BBC, 2019). He was the first to incorporate non-Slav nations like the Kazan Khanate and Astrakhan Khanate, Bashkir, and others into Russia.
The Romanov Czars
The death of Ivan IV in 1584 marked the beginning of what is referred to as the rule of the “Romanov czars.” The Romanov dynasty or family ruled from 1613 till the time of the 1917 Revolution. The first of the family that ruled Russia with iron fist was Mikhail Romanov, and he was succeeded by Peter the Great. Catherine I, the wife of Peter the Great was the first woman to rule Russia (1725 – 1727). Several other women such as Anna (1730 – 1740); Elizabeth (1741 – 1762) and Sophia Alekseyevna (1682 – 1689) also ruled Russia. Indeed, women ruled Russia for 77 years during the 304 years’ era of the Romanov czars. Catherine II the Great, was the last woman to rule Russia after her estranged son and successor, Czar Paul I, passed a law barring women from ascending the throne.
However, the most notable ruler of this era male or female was arguably Catherine II the Great (1762 – 1796). Under her reign, Russia embarked on great territorial expansion that included Crimea (the same Crimea that was annexed by Putin in 2014); access to the Black Sea and inroad into Eastern Europe including taking charge of parts of Poland after forcing her former lover, Stanislaw Poniatowski of Poland to abdicate the throne, when the latter tried to stir a rebellion among Russian vassal states to assert more independence (Maranzani, 2025).
Catharine the Great considered herself an enlightened czar, and is credited with modernizing and reforming Russia’s educational sector as well as the arts. Although she never travelled to the West, Catherine kept in touch with the Western Enlightenment philosophers of the time, especially Voltaire, with whom she exchanged many correspondences. Catherine the Great’s reign is usually tagged the golden era of the Romanov czars, as she improved Russia’s administrative and legal system, modelling them after Western European standards (Oldenbourg – Idalie, 2026). However, like most political and legal reforms carried out in Russia, 95% of the population, the serfs who were properties of the nobles did not benefit; in fact, their political/legal and economic fortunes became worse under Catherine the Great. Also the Russian Orthodox Church which held vast properties, lost most of its properties as new state laws transferred ownership to Russia after secularization law of 1764 came into effect; the church also lost its favored position due to the Religious Toleration Edict of 1773 that permitted propagation of other faith other than Christianity and the Orthodox Church’s influence was curtailed after Catherine expunged religion from education in 1786. Likewise, Ukrainians who were free before Catherine the Great came to the throne suffered worse fate as they were all reduced to serfs.
The last of the Romanov czars was Nicholas the II (1894 – 1917). Nicholas was a weak and ineffective ruler. Russian economy floundered under his watch and social and political unrest grew after his tactless handling cost Russia in the Russo – Japanese War of 1904 -1905. It is not surprising that there was revolt of Russian workers in 1905 leading to what is referred to as Bloody Sunday (History.com Editors, 2025).
Although Nicholas survived the bloody uprising in 1905, Russia’s sinking fortunes due to intolerable cost of war in WW1 and the huge strain on the economy, caused more unrest and chaos. The outrage of the nobles, the clergy, teeming workers’ and the politically conscious intelligentsia class was furthered heightened when the extent of influence exerted on the ruling family by Grigori Rasputin, a Russian with bogus numinous aura was discovered.
Also, to the chagrin of Russians, a sizable fortune of state cash was lavished on Rasputin’s fruitless healing adventures. Rasputin was lynched to death on December 30, 1916. It was the precursor to the dark days to come in 1917. In the aftermath of the Revolution, and the subsequent struggle for power leading to a civil war between the Bolshevik (red army) and the Menshevik (white army), Nicholas and his entire family were wiped out in a gruesome and covert manner that was typical of Russia. The Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin pulled the trigger and wielded the bayonets that destroyed Nicholas, his wife Alexandra and their three daughters and only son, Alexei. More blood flowed in the days that followed. It marked the end of Russia under Romanov czars and the beginning of socialist Soviet Union (History.com Editors, 2025).
Communist Soviet Union
Like the Russian empire before it, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) began in conflict and ended in crisis. Soviet Union endured for 74 years and had seven leaders who were officially called “the General Secretary of the Soviet Union”. The longest in the saddle and most notorious by some distance was Josef Stalin whose murderous reign lasted for 29 years (1924 – 1953). He was the successor to Vladimir Lenin the first leader of Soviet Union (1917 – 1924). George Orwell’s Animal Farm is modelled after events in Russia in this era. Napoleon, the stout boar-despot king of Manor Farm takes on the character of Stalin in the allegory and Leon Trotsky, leader of the Red Army and natural successor to Lenin, who was out schemed by Stalin (meaning steel in Russia) was depicted as Snowball (Orwell, 1954). It is not surprising that the book and other materials critical of that era were banned in Soviet Union until the reforms of Gorbachev in 1985.
Stalin initiated a nationalist brand of Marxism, focused on Soviet Union under the mantra “Socialism in One Country.” Under his brutal reign hinged on sequential five-year development plans, Soviet Union experiences rapid industrialization at great human cost. Stalin in 1928 abolished the communal small land holding practice and enforced collectivization as he modernized agriculture. Under Stalin, there was constant purge through extermination and imprisonment in all sectors, especially within the Communist Party and the military (BBC, 2003). It was under Stalin in 1949, that the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. When in 1941, Adolf Hitler reneged on their pact to carve up Europe between them and instead attacked Soviet Union, Stalin showed his ruthless streak by sacrificing multitude of soldiers to snatch victory from the jaw of defeat and in the process pushed Hitler back to Berlin.
Stalin though fought on the side of the allies in WW2, however, as he proved at home, he was always suspicious of the West, and declined the invitation by the U.S. to partake in the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe and instead effected the Berlin Blockade on July 24, 1948 (Charlwood, 2026). It marked the beginning of the Cold War. When Stalin died of stroke in 1953, many in prison in Soviet Union rejoiced, but more than a few mourned him as a hero who made the Soviet Union a fearsome war machine and global power.
Nikita Khrushchev succeeded Stalin in 1953. Like Stalin, he came from a very poor background and rose through the ranks of the Communist Party to become a member of the Politburo, the highest decision making body in the Soviet Union. Khrushchev attempted to reverse some of Stalin’s draconian policies by initiating what was referred to as “de-Stalinization” policies which granted greater individual liberties and improved the living standard of the people. Khrushchev’s “Virgin Lands” campaign extended opportunity to individuals to farm in previously uncultivated lands, especially in Kazakhstan. He was reported to have denounced Stalin during a speech at 20th Congress of Communist Party (McIntosh, 2014). Khrushchev established the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezpopasnosti (KGB) on March 13, 1954. Over the years, it became the equivalent of the U.S.’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), ubiquitous shadowy spying network taking down real and perceived enemies of the state at home and abroad.
On the foreign scene, Khrushchev had many brushes with the U.S. and its allies. In 1960, he ordered the shooting down of a US U2 spy-plane on surveillance mission over Soviet territory and the following year, he ordered the erection of the Berlin Wall. The most notable event of his era however, was the foiled attempt to locate nuclear bombs in Cuba in 1962. Also, it was Khrushchev, who established Warsaw Pact, a military alliance of Soviet Union and its satellite states on May 14, 1955. It was a security measure intended to counter the formation of NATO by the West.
In spite of his confrontations with the West, Khrushchev worked to maintain peaceful coexistence with U.S. and its allies. In his article, On Peaceful Coexistence published in 1959, Khrushchev stated that: “Whether you like your neighbor or not, nothing can be done about it, you have to find some ways of getting on with him, for you both live on one and the same planet,” (Khrushchev, 1959). Khrushchev’s moderate stance and his criticism of Stalin pitched him against hardliners in the Communist Party. It came as no shock that Khrushchev was forced out in a palace coup in 1964.
Leonid Brezhnev (1964 – 1982), succeeded Khrushchev and wasted no time in promoting internationalization of socialism in the same manner Truman promoted democracy abroad. Brezhnev offered military support to all socialist states and encouraged strict adherence by Soviet satellite states to Moscow-dictated policies (Scott-Brown and Fowler, 2011). He crushed the Prague Spring with tanks in 1968, to put an end to reforms Czechoslovakia called “Socialism with a human face.” In 1979, Brezhnev sent his army into Afghanistan to support the communist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA).
At home, he reversed most of the humane policies of Khrushchev. Individual rights were suspended, the economy was recentralized and censorship increased. Brezhnev’s policies and his costly arm’s race with the U.S. ruined Soviet Union. As his health nosedived in the 1980s, so Soviet Union’s fortunes plummeted. It marked the beginning of the end for Soviet Union. The next two leaders, Yuri Andropov (1982 – 1984), and Konstantin Chernenko (1984 – 1985), did not live long enough to reverse the failing fortunes of the Soviet Union.
When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed the reins of government in 1985, he inherited a sick country and he proceeded to institute reforms by democratizing elections, promoting civil liberties and private ownership of business in line with Western culture and principles. Gorbachev’s reforms produced far reaching consequences than he anticipated. Individuals, long suppressed in the different Soviet republics began to clamor for state sovereignty and complete breakaway from the Soviet Union. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 Gorbachev did not send tanks as it was customary with Soviet leaders. Soon, one after another, the Soviet Republics got their independence, even a military coup by hardliners within Russia was greeted with defiance and scorn. In the end, Gorbachev was put under house arrest, then relieved of his position in exchange for his freedom, but nothing could bring the Soviet Union back, or perhaps Vladimir Putin could if he tries harder (Brown, 2017).
Russia and Putin
Putin is Russia and Russia is Putin. Nothing important happens in the country without his knowledge and express permission. Like the Soviet Union of old, Putin and Russia have eyes everywhere, at home and abroad. The man referred to as the “Pale moth” from his KGB days admires brutal Russian leaders of past years, Stalin, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great are accorded prominent, positive positions in Russia’s folklore and Putin has not spared any expense in remolding Moscow after his passion (Montefiore, 2022).
However, it is instructive to know that Putin began his reign over Russia as Acting President on December 31, 1999, after Boris Yeltsin resigned due to ill health, by embracing democracy and open market economy. The following year, on March 26, 2000, Putin was elected President under what Russian political experts like Vitaly Tret’yakov referred to as “administered democracy,” (Smith, 2000). The attributes of Russia’s state-managed democracy are: (1) A regime with a very powerful presidency located in the Kremlin and elected for four years, which is controlled by Putin in similar fashion as Charles de Gaulle controlled France’s Fifth republic, although the office of the Prime Minister exist, it is subordinate to the President; (2) The bicameral parliament is filled with candidates representing the ruling United Russia party and are subordinate to the president; (3) Government is highly centralized, and the president at the center has complete control over the regions and regional leaders, creating a single political and legal sphere within Russia; (4) Although the system permits multiparty democracy, opposition parties have no chance ever to come to power; (5) Winners of elections are known in advance as all state resources are directed to ensure that the process produces the desired outcome; (6) Civil liberties are carefully monitored and managed, making it difficult or impossible for any meaningful mobilization against the government, even Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are closely monitored to ensure their activities project Russian government policies favorably; and (7) The mass media though privatized, yet it is highly regulated by government at the center (Smith, 2000).
This is the political and legal template of the Federation of Russia and over the years Putin has tightened the screws to enhance his complete control of the state. It is instructive to note that in 2008, Putin did step aside after completing the mandatory two-term allowed by the Russian constitution. However, instead of exiting the scene, he moved into the position of Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012 and Dmitry Medvedev was “elected” president in a carefully managed electoral process, although the reins of the Kremlin remained with Putin.
Then in 2012, Putin staged a comeback as President after the Russian Constitution was altered to allow for two terms of six years, Dmitry Medvedev reverted to his position as Prime Minister. Critics say the process was marred with fraud and intimidation (News Agencies, 2012). Article 81(3) of the new Russian Constitution barred Putin from contesting beyond 2024. So Putin faced what political analyst referred to as “lame duck syndrome,” with his power and influence expected to wane as his tenure petered out. However, the willy old fox crossed that hurdle easily by covertly initiating “elite intervention.” It began with president of the constitutional court, Valery Zorkin calling for constitutional amendment, then others in legislature joined, speaker of the Duma, the lower parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, and the Federal Assembly, upper house, Valentina Matvienko joined, then Medvedev, the prime minister wrote a lengthy endorsement on Russia’s social media, Vkontakte. When Putin presented the plan for constitutional amendment as call from the people on January 15, 2020, it was fait accompli (Fisher, 2025). The amendment was eventually passed erasing Putin’s previous tenures. So barring death, Putin can rule Russia until 2036.
Putin, the West and Ukraine
He blames the West for the demise of the Soviet Union and has made hostility towards the West a key foreign policy. Putin’s grudge towards the West is one of the driving force behind his brutal war against Ukraine. Although he states eastward expansion of NATO and attempt by the West to bring Ukraine into its fold as reasons for launching Russia’s invasion in 2022, the fact is that Putin fears that Western democracy if allowed unhindered in Ukraine would seep into Russia and create unrest.
Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine is costing Russia in both human and material resources. Nearly a million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the beginning of the war, and Russia pays about $80,000 each to the family of wounded or dead soldier. Also, the salary of the military has been enhanced to about $2000 per month for entry-level soldiers, this is double the average national salary in Russia and there are about 700,000 Russian soldiers per time in the frontline (Gabuev, 2025).
Politically, Russia’s attention in Ukraine rendered Moscow unable to react when its allies, Iran, Azerbaijan, Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela were attacked, overthrown and incarcerated. Armenia and Azerbaijan are countries in Russia’s sphere of influence, yet, it was Trump, not Putin, who mediated a peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku. Despite these huge costs and global reputational damage to Russia due its invasion of Kyiv, Moscow only controls about 20% of Ukraine after four years of atrocious war (Kimmage and Notte, 2025).
Legally, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has projected Moscow as a lawless state and the invasion was condemned by majority of members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Also, the invasion of Ukraine has alienated Russia, restricting its circle of allies. One of the many legal consequence of the invasion was the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Putin, restricting his movement., including preventing Putin from attending BRICS + annual conference in South Africa and Brazil.
Russia, China and the World
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the final outcome of the war will define Putin’s legacy and like Stalin, Putin is willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes to achieve his aim. The war is bleeding Russia of resources and has made Moscow more dependent on China. Russia depends on China for supply of dual use materials and on North Korea for supply of man power to prosecute its war in Ukraine.
Because of Russia’s fixation on annexing Ukraine, Moscow has lost its place among the G – 8, a group of the world’s most industrialized countries that meets annually to deliberate on matters of global concern. Even Russia’s sport men and women as well as Belarus for its part in aiding Russia, can only compete in sporting events under a neutral flag. Russia remains expelled by football’s world governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other global bodies. Russia’s diminishing global influence is further exposed when Trump extended invitation to Russia to join his newly constituted Board of Peace, yet refrained from granting Moscow the special place accorded a super power (Kimmage and Notte, 2025).
Russia, Putin and 2035
Putin craves immortality, he broached the subject in discussions Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2025 (Roberts, 2025). In 2036, Putin would be 83 and likely, fit to continue to “serve” Russia. The leopard does not change its spot, and nothing in Russia’s history presents the faintest hope that Moscow would embrace popular democracy like obtains in the U.S. and in other parts of the West. In the days when Putin first came to power and he wore oversized coats to meet American presidents Bill Clinton in 1999 and George W. Bush in early 2000s, he presented a carefully cultivated façade that he was steering Russia towards popular Western democracy with a free press. Western investments poured in and Russians prospered. Russia even got the opportunity to host the World Cup in 2018, four years after it annexed Crimea in Ukraine.
Five different American presidents have occupied the White House since Putin took over the reins of the Kremlin in 1999. Two of the American presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama completed two terms of eight years, Biden completed one term of four years, and Trump is in his sixth year of his second term. Putin will in all likelihood witness the end of Trump’s tenure and a few more American presidents. Like Stalin in old age, Putin will become more suspicious of both internal and external foes and as his circle become narrower. In the coming years, more critics of Russia under Putin will suffer mysterious death at home and abroad like Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya, and others (van Brugen, 2024). More NGOs and journalists will be targeted as “foreign agents.” Many more government officials who fail to meet the Supreme Leader’s expectation will be forced to commit suicide like former transport minister Roman Starovoit (Kottasova, 2025).
On the foreign scene, Russia will become more dependent on China, continue to deepen its relationship with North Korea and spread its influence among African states using the anti-imperialist slogan. Russia will also increase its covert operations to influence elections in Europe as well increase hostile security measures to destabilize states within Moscow’s orbit in Eastern Europe.
Conclusion
Counting state-sponsored deaths in Russia or counting conflicts is akin to counting sand on the seashore. Conflicts and subterfuge are second nature to Russia. Whoever holds the reins of government in the center is king and can do no wrong. The more brutal, the more enduring as Russia’s long history has shown.
Although Article 13 of Russia’s post-Soviet constitution abolished promotion of solitary state ideology as obtained in communist Soviet, yet Putin’s political mantra referred to as “Putinology or Putinism,” holds sway and it permits no competing ideology (Yaffa, 2025). Essentially, it centers on identity politics built around Putin, with a messianic hue; ultra nationalist sentiments are invoked in chants of “One Russia” by Russians, who have long learned to be politically passive and submissive. As 2035 approaches and Putin remains in power, Russians will be reminded continually of their special heritage as a unique race who are neither Europeans nor Asians and have a divine mandate to rule over lesser nationalities like Ukrainians. These are the projections for 2035 and only a united West can constrain Russia to lower its gaze.
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