{"id":1304924,"date":"2025-10-11T20:48:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T17:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/morel-under-a-blanket-putin-is-shrinking\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T10:08:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:08:36","slug":"morel-under-a-blanket-putin-is-shrinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/morel-under-a-blanket-putin-is-shrinking\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mushroom in Decline: Putin Shrinks Under His Own Blanket"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Author’s Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n

Three simultaneous events have once again exposed the true face of the Russian regime \u2014 confused, jittery, and drained both physically and morally. The perfect metaphor for this condition was coined years ago by political scientist Andrei Piontkovsky: \u201ca morel under a blanket.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After every geopolitical failure, Putin reappears in public in the same condition \u2014 trembling, his voice weary and subdued, as if wrapped in an invisible blanket woven from his own fear. That moment has come again.<\/p>\n

The first symptom is Russia\u2019s public humiliation<\/strong> in its relations with Azerbaijan. The Kremlin has officially admitted responsibility for the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane over Grozny, Ichkeria, and agreed to pay compensation to the victims\u2019 families. According to Reuters<\/em> and The Guardian<\/em>, Putin personally apologized to Ilham Aliyev and promised \u201cfull cooperation\u201d in the investigation. For Moscow, this is unprecedented: an empire that has denied guilt for decades has now been forced to bow its head to a neighbor.<\/p>\n

President Aliyev avoided dramatizing the incident, but in Baku, it was clearly seen as a victory<\/strong>. Following Putin\u2019s apology, Moscow rushed to issue a string of \u201cwarm\u201d statements about partnership and cooperation \u2014 a change in tone that only underscored the Kremlin\u2019s growing weakness.<\/p>\n\t\t