The Telegraph: Defeats On The Frontline And A Declining Economy Are Making Putin Paranoid

The myth of "invincible Russia" is crumbling before our eyes.

The atmosphere inside the Kremlin is becoming increasingly paranoid amid setbacks on the frontline in Ukraine and growing problems in the Russian economy. This is according to The Telegraph.

The publication notes that available data shows a significant depletion of the Russian war machine after several years of offensive operations and heavy losses.

According to the American Institute for the Study of War, in April the Russian army lost more territory than it occupied for the first time since the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region in August 2024. And overall, Russian troops have seized significantly less territory in the past six months than they did in the same period a year earlier.

The Telegraph writes that if the current pace of the offensive continues, it will take Russia decades to fully seize Donbass, which the Kremlin calls a key condition of any peace agreement. At the same time, as the analysts explain, this situation will not fundamentally change in the foreseeable future, as the dominance of drones in the air prevents Russia from realizing its numerical superiority and making a strategic breakthrough anywhere on the front.

The publication notes that the Russian army is suffering from logistical and communication problems at the front, and its losses are already reaching astronomical levels. According to calculations by independent Russian journalists, Russia has lost more than 350,000 soldiers just in deaths. At the same time, the rate of recruitment of new contract soldiers is no longer compensating for the losses.

And against this background, more and more problems are being felt in the Russian economy. The Telegraph writes that the Russian economy shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2026 amid falling oil and gas revenues and weakening business activity.

Based on these military problems and economic turmoil, "the atmosphere in the Kremlin is becoming increasingly paranoid," the publication says. The journalists cite a recently published intelligence report from a European country that claims Putin spends much of his time in bunkers, avoids using internet-enabled devices, and focuses almost entirely on daily military meetings.

Despite this, the Ukrainian military warns that it is too early to talk about Russia's imminent collapse. AFU commanders suggest that Moscow may be preparing new offensive operations with the onset of drier weather. However, as the publication summarizes, the image of "relentless Russian power and unlimited human resources" that Putin has been trying to demonstrate to the world for years is gradually beginning to crumble.

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