Europe Found A Way To Make Putin Pay For War - Jason Jay Smart

[TexasTowelie]

Russia is currently liquidating its sovereign future to finance immediate combat operations, a strategy that is rapidly colliding with the reality of Ukrainian deep-strike capabilities. The conflict has transitioned from static trench warfare into a campaign of strategic insolvency, where the Kremlin is burning through cash reserves at a rate of $26 million per hour. This attrition is visible not just on the battlefield, but in the systematic dismantling of the energy infrastructure that powers the Russian state, forcing Moscow into a permanent and unsustainable war economy.

The mechanism of this collapse is driven by a dual pressure: catastrophic personnel losses in "meat assaults" across sectors like Pokrovsk, and the targeted destruction of revenue-generating assets from Slavyansk to the Caspian Sea. With Russian crude selling near $40 per barrel and defense spending cannibalizing 38% of the federal budget, the economy is being hollowed out to support a fracturing military logistics chain. Concurrently, the European Union is institutionalizing long-term support by leveraging frozen Russian assets, effectively outmatching Moscow’s dwindling financial endurance with sustained Western industrial capital.

Ultimately, these factors are creating a brittle operational environment where the Russian system faces inevitable exhaustion. As Ukraine integrates into NATO-standard supply chains and systematically degrades the Russian rear, the Kremlin is losing the capacity to shield its domestic population and elite circles from the war’s costs. The trajectory points toward a distinct breaking point where hyper-militarization fails to mask the deepening fissure between regime survival and national bankruptcy.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro: The Kremlin's Financial Collapse
01:41 - Kupiansk Siege: Russian Troops Trapped
04:24 - Ukraine’s Deep Strikes: Targeting Russia’s Wallet
06:46 - Drone Warfare: Russia’s Costly Attrition Crisis
07:57 - Russia's War Budget: Guns Over Butter
09:50 - EU Support: Securing Ukraine's Industrial Future
11:40 - Kremlin Elite: The Risk of Regime Collapse
13:30 - Ukraine's Hope: The Path to Total Victory
15:42 - Outro