The West supplies them [Ukraine] with drones. What could be simpler? You screwed it together, pressed a button, and off it flew...”

“The West supplies them [Ukraine] with drones. What could be simpler? You screwed it together, pressed a button, and off it flew. But when I was saying that... but that means only one thing: we need to strengthen the air defense system.”

You know who he’s starting to resemble to me? Trump.

No, of course, he always had that performative simplicity about him which, as the murdered Anna Politkovskaya said, is worse than stealing. And he always used to have those Pechenegs and Polovtsians popping up. But it feels like his speech apparatus has started to sag; at least before, he expressed himself much more precisely and had no trouble finishing a thought.

Of course, he’s still a long way from the Trump stage, though the age difference matters there too: Putin is 73, Trump turns 80 in two weeks. But some signs are already showing.

Americans have it easier in that respect. They only have to hold out for another two and a half years, and then they’ll vote for whoever they want. Putin, meanwhile, plans to hang on until 2036. And, rest assured, he is also ready to keep the war going “for as long as it takes.” “We fought the Swedes for 21 years,” that wasn’t Medinsky who came up with that.

So that doesn’t make it any easier, of course. I’m simply noting age-related changes.