Russian "achievements" in 2020

No matter how they tried to smooth out the corners of the Kremlin's mouthpiece (he even received ₽1 million for the development of journalism), this year was a failure for Russia in all directions. The empire enters the next decade significantly weakened.

Dmitry Tor writes about it for foreignpolicy.com.ua.

The most severe economic crisis was caused not so much by the coronavirus pandemic and the theft of power as by defeats in foreign markets. The loss of the main raw material giants Rosneft and Gazprom, formed at the beginning of the year, predestined the reduction of the budget, and the firm landing on the "oil needle" and sanctions made income diversification impossible and deepened technological backwardness. Taking into account that Putin personally participated in the decision-making on the deal with OPEC, the responsibility for the consequences of the "price war" lies not only with Novak and Sechyna. Miller also distinguished himself in this respect - by 2015, he was supposed to complete the full gasification of the regions, today the plan is 70% completed, by 2030 they want to reach 85%. But the main thing is that he did not fill the "Power of Siberia" and drain the "Turkish stream".

On the one hand, financial decline is good news. Putin will have less money for imperial wars. On the other hand, the weight of the president's geopolitical fetish will now fall entirely on the shoulders of the "deep people", which this year began to die out at a record pace over the past 14 years. In any case, the Kremlin will be forced to minimize its involvement in various conflicts. But he will leave Ukraine alone for the last time.

With technological development, the same picture. Contrary to Putin's bragging at the press conference, not all rockets take off, "Bulava" does not find the right course, there are problems with the management of nuclear reactors. Experts say that the Su-4 generation 57++ fighter against the F-32 is not even worth raising into the air. In this regard, the success of the development and production of the latest laser complexes and attack UAVs for the rearmament of the Russian army is also highly doubtful. Technological backwardness has been recognized for more than the first time in a row, even in the Kremlin. Because of this, accidents will be more frequent, and the consequences more severe. The siphoning six months of the Russian ISS module and the negligible number of space launches this year (17) are only a partial confirmation of that.

The topic of ecology also became one of the central ones this year. Man-made accidents due to debauchery and petty theft have covered almost the entire territory of Russia. "Uranium tails" in addition. And the lies of the officials only fueled the negative attitude of the people towards the oligarchs and the federal government.

Moscow's foreign policy also suffered a number of pathetic defeats. The blitzkrieg in Belarus apparently failed, allied Armenia was defeated in the war with Azerbaijan, as a result of which Turkey overtook Russia in regional leadership in the Caucasus. Serbia submitted an application to join the EU, and Germany ceased to be a conduit for Russian interests in Europe. As a result, almost everyone turned their backs on the Russian Federation, leaving Moscow with only one option - to poison with propaganda and to bribe, flooding false allies with billions in loans to the detriment of the well-being of its own population. Russia's position is no longer listened to and its opinion is not taken into account. Lavrov and Zakharova are not the only ones to blame for this, they are the executors.

The vaccine race should be considered as a separate article of foreign policy. Despite the primacy in development and registration, further scandals with the efficiency and unfinished tests of "Sputnik V", as well as the lack of capacity for mass production, pushed Russia to the bottom of the ratings of "saviors of mankind" and scientifically developed countries. The priority of modest supplies to Argentina and Venezuela to the detriment of regional security only worsened the image of Moscow and exposed the propaganda essence of drug development. However, this was predictable from the very beginning.

The use of military poison to eliminate Alexei Navalny was the last straw in the West's collective patience. If at the beginning of the year the democratic coalition assumed (promoted) a soft transition of power in the Kremlin, now it will be satisfied only with the complete elimination of the regime and a change in Russia's course. Neither Washington nor Brussels hope more for Putin's system to observe international law, or at least elementary standards of decency on the world stage. This is noticeable at least because the West is no longer interested in seeing Moscow as a reliable partner. They are no longer waiting for repentance from the bunker, but are trying to bring to justice not only the performers, but also the customers. And this applies not only to Navalny - Putin managed to splash himself with blood in many countries of the world.

The topic of the Russian President's health and his ability to fully perform the functions of commander-in-chief and coordinator of intra-system relations came to the fore at the very end of the year. The built-up image of a strong, strong and wise leader died, awakened the previously dormant forces, which began to strive for power under the emperor who was still alive. It is already clear to everyone that Putin has weakened. And given the vertical sharpness of the system, the whole of Russia has weakened. Sensing the smell of the throne in the struggle for influence and the remaining resources, the "towers of the Kremlin" entered into a direct confrontation, presented to the world a series of high-profile exposes of Putin's inner circle and friends, which affected him himself.

In this case, constitutional reform and nullification of terms look like agony. Realizing this, the Kremlin went into deep digging and watering the bunker with additional concrete in the hope of protecting itself from the impending invasion of the Pechenegs and Polovtsians. On the penultimate day of the year, Putin signed the most necessary laws - on prohibition, on deprivation, on non-disclosure, on tightening, on blocking, on criminal liability and on fines. Although this is a very abbreviated, but quite informative announcement of the authorities' response to internal challenges next year. It was created by a record surge of protestors who are not able to hide manual sociological agencies. Despite attempts to vent popular anger through a series of exposed and arrested officials, Russia continues to build pressure. Harsh persecution of unsystematic opposition instead of dialogue adds fuel to the fire. The hastily created legislative base classifies almost any citizen of the Russian Federation as an "enemy of the people" who slouches at the sight of the host and dares to look up from the floor. The system independently digs its own "political grave".

Taking into account that systemic crises are acquiring the scale of catastrophes, and also taking into account the upcoming transition of power and the elections to the State Duma next year, it is safe to say that 2020 was a prelude for Russia. Truly epoch-making events should be expected in 2021.