Putin Cannot Stop the Collapse

Russia’s war machine is faltering under mounting losses, shortages, and economic strain – exposing deep cracks in manpower, logistics, and control as Ukraine’s pressure reshapes the battlefield. Russia’s war effort is breaking down under pressure on multiple fronts. Battlefield losses are rising, equipment shortages are worsening, and financial strain is now hitting the regions that have been forced to carry the burden of recruitment and war spending. What once looked like a military system built to absorb endless punishment is showing clear signs of exhaustion. The damage no longer stops at the zero line. It is spreading through manpower, logistics, command, and the Kremlin’s ability to hide the scale of its losses from the public. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . Kyiv Post’s Jason Smart sits down with his Post colleague, former Navy SEAL Team Six Squadron Leader Chuck Pfarrer, to examine how these failures are changing the balance in Ukraine. As Russian forces burn through modern armor and fall back on obsolete T-62 tanks, Ukraine’s counterattacks are exposing a military that is increasingly hollow beneath the surface. Units are being reinforced with poorly trained recruits, while the human and material cost of every kilometer gained keeps rising. Russia is sacrificing more and gaining less. The consequences are now visible inside Russia itself. Local governments are struggling to finance recruitment bonuses, public strain is becoming harder to suppress, and Moscow looks less capable of projecting control without exposing weakness. Smart and Pfarrer break down how battlefield attrition, economic pressure, and fragile political control are feeding the same dangerous cycle inside the Russian state.