In a 25-minute special, I join Times Radio’s James Hanson for a deep-dive analysis of Vladimir Putin’s staged re-election in Russia — and how his “victory” is threatened by the prospect of failure in his 25-month invasion of Ukraine.

I evaluate Putin’s maneuvers to maintain his legitimacy at home through the electoral performance, State propaganda, repression, and the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

But all of this is confronted by his unfulfilled “legacy” of conquering Ukraine and making it part of “Greater Russia”.

Despite a massive advantage in artillery and the blackmail of Kyiv by Trumpists and hard-right US Republicans, Russia is making only small gains on the frontline. Meanwhile, Ukraine is hitting the Russians hard behind those frontlines with strikes on the military —- breaking the Russian Navy’s hold on the Black Sea — and on oil refineries.