<p>

And it seemed like a sign from heaven: you can now become a great conqueror. And a blow in the style of Napoleon Bonaparte.</p>

<p>

Only now the enemy was underestimated. The Ukrainians turned out to be much better prepared for war than expected, and thoroughly dug in. Yes, Zelensky turned out to be not at all such a weakling and soft-bodied as many thought about him.</p>

<p>

So the blitzkrieg that Vladimir Putin was counting on failed. The war became protracted and fierce.</p>

<p>

At first, it seemed that oil and gas prices were skyrocketing, and it would bankrupt the West.</p>

<p>

But in the summer, oil production in the world increased, and Saudi Arabia decided to oust Russia from Europe, and prices began to fall again. And then the Taliban, having decided that the moment was the most convenient, attacked Tajikistan and opened a new front in the south of the CIS.</p>

<p>

And here Russia had to fight almost alone, since the Tajiks turned out to be weak in fighting spirit - they massively surrendered and deserted.</p>

<p>

The opening of a new front in the south was generally expected. Moreover, the Americans promised to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and unblock accounts. And the Taliban wanted to expand. In addition, the fact that drug caravans were caught on the Tajik border also played a role. And so you can arrange a colossal breakthrough.</p>

<p>

In America, they even reproached the military for not leaving Afghanistan earlier: then the war with Russia would also have started much faster.</p>

<p>

Putin, at the time of his seventieth birthday, faced serious problems. In particular, it was necessary to transfer troops through several countries and Tajikistan. And for this still declare partial mobilization. In principle, it was necessary to initially allocate more forces to capture Ukraine. But all sorts of military experts assured that the Ukrainians are completely useless warriors, that they cannot be compared with ISIS, that we will literally throw hats on them.</p>

<p>

In the early days it seemed so. But it was not possible to take Kyiv with a swoop by one airborne regiment. Moreover, the paratroopers suffered heavy damage and retreated. Then the troops had to be withdrawn from Kyiv and the region.</p>

<p>

The war dragged on, losses grew. And the resistance of the Ukrainians became stronger and stronger.</p>

<p>

The supply of weapons from the West also increased. In Russia, despite all the efforts of propaganda, anti-war sentiments grew. The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party has changed, and this was also a signal: the old politicians are fading away. Who stepped out in front of his feet, who himself left. Zyuganov also aged and weakened. In the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, his criticism intensified. In addition, God Himself ordered the communists to be in opposition, and to conflict with the authorities. And they supported the war with Ukraine. And then, of course, the attacks on Zyuganov intensified.</p>

<p>

Putin in this situation, of course, was on the side of Gennady Andreevich: at least he is safe. The old horse will not spoil the furrow, but it will not plow deeply either.</p>

<p>

Zyuganov is a whole phenomenon. In fact, he voluntarily leaked the elections to Yeltsin, was weak and passive. And then he became very old. Convenient opposition. And the communists tolerated him, which is stupid. They are not very smart.</p>

<p>

This is once again talking about the disease of leaderism among the communists. In United Russia, there is even more diversity of opinion and freedom. Here Sergei Shoigu has lost credibility because of Ukraine. And there were also ideas to exclude him from the co-chairs.</p>

<p>

Putin's health deteriorated during the celebration of the seventieth birthday. And very seriously. Well, at the age of seventy, Stalin, Brezhnev, and Khrushchev had already clearly passed. And Putin is no exception. Began to think about a successor. Moreover, the Ukrainians want to remove it. And you never know. We all walk under God.</p>

<p>

But who should you appoint as your replacement? In order not to be like Zhirinovsky's, he died without a will. One of the ideas was to appoint the eldest daughter to the post of prime minister. But that meant crashing the economy. Mikhail Mishustin did not like it too much. He was even born on March 3, the day after Mikhail Gorbachev. And it seemed like an ominous sign. Yes, and Mikhail Vladimirovich's bald head is bigger than Gorbachev's. And these bald heads always crushed their predecessors. That is, it is necessary to get rid of Mikhail Mishustin, but it is not clear who to put in. All have their shortcomings. They advised Dmitry Rogozin, but United Russia does not like him too much.</p>

<p>

Putin personally liked Medvedev, but he was not popular among the people and, perhaps, soft-bodied. Plus, Medvedev showed himself to be an unimportant prime minister. Here the choice is already limited. There was also Vaino. Also a surname which is non-Russian and is associated with the war. But he is from the Baltics, and this is really not the best option, although he is really a fox, as mean, cunning and treacherous as Vladimir Putin himself!</p>

<p>

However, Dmitry Medvedev was also a fox, although outwardly he gave the impression of a slug and a soft-bodied intellectual.</p>

<p>

But looks can be deceiving. General Lebed is very formidable in appearance. And it scared the elite away from him. The oligarchs changed their minds about betting on him. However, they were not going to make a president out of Lebed. It was used as a spoiler for Zyuganov and the then very popular and ambitious Zhirinovsky. And Lebed even exceeded all expectations. After that, it had to be heated.</p>

<p>

After a long bargain, the oligarchs put Lebed to be fed in the Krasnodar Territory, and forbade him to participate in federal politics. Then the general died under very strange and suspicious circumstances.</p>

<p>