This week, Vladimir Putin’s regime played every side of the world’s conflict chessboard. As Israeli strikes on Iran sent shockwaves through Moscow’s war room, Russian state outlets amplified talk of “full-scale war” and Putin himself leapt into the global spotlight—offering to “mediate” in the Middle East, as if Moscow hadn’t spent years fueling chaos for profit.
The “peacemaker” act plays well with Russian audiences and international fellow travelers, but Putin’s military is laser-focused on hard power. In a major address, he ordered the rapid expansion of Russia’s drone forces—promising new resources, tech, and industrial mobilization to catch up with Western and Ukrainian advances. Russian military bloggers touted the creation of a dedicated drone warfare branch as a “game changer,” while Western analysts called it little more than another splashy rebrand in the face of mounting battlefield losses.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine drags on—with fresh reports of Moscow’s recruitment of African fighters for the so-called “Black Wagners” and increasingly desperate attempts to shore up depleted ranks. The Kremlin’s narrative machine remains in high gear, churning out stories of warming ties with Trump’s America and fresh threats to Moldova and Transnistria.
On the European front, the news cycle was dominated by battlefield setbacks and Putin’s combative rhetoric, with Moscow promising escalation at every turn.
So goes another week in Putin’s strongman circus: drones for breakfast, mercenaries for lunch, “mediation” for dinner—and a full serving of manufactured crisis for dessert. The only real question is how long the world will keep buying tickets.