What does Putin do next? Welcome to The i Paper’s opinion series in which our writers and experts take a deeper look at the future for the Russian leader.
• Furious Putin is trapped in a gilded cage. Only death will free him• Putin has made a vast strategic error. This relationship shows us why• The worst war the Soviets ever fought is now haunting Putin• Putin has turned Russia into a ‘crack cocaine’ economy – he’s trapped• Putin is in retreat across the globe. But he has one great hope left for victory
In August 2024, in Kano, northern Nigeria’s commercial hub, a handful of tailors were arrested. Their alleged crime was stitching together strips of red, white and blue material. Soon afterwards, hundreds of youths took to the streets waving these newly made Russian tricolours, chanting “we are hungry” and calling on Vladimir Putin to “rescue” them.
Small wonder the Nigerian authorities were nervous. In the past few years, Russian flags have become a prominent symbol of anti-French sentiment and shifting military alliances right across the Sahel region from Mali and Burkina Faso to Niger.
Vladimir Putin has been conducting his own neo-colonial race for Africa, while he fights on with his war in Ukraine. Yet in both arenas, his ambitions are increasingly frustrated by setbacks.
