The end of Russia

I’m Russian. This story is not easy to write. I can and do criticize Russia a lot, especially its dickhead suffering-inflicting leader, but I’m Russian. That means respecting my roots, my place of birth, my childhood memories, my other memories — I spent time in Russia in my grown-up years, the Russian culture, my friends and relatives who remain in Russia, whether they support Putin’s regime or not.

In one of my stories, I mocked this type of story subject lines: XYZ is dead. You know — the American dream is dead, Biden’s presidency is dead, the renewable energy is dead, and so on. It’s pure clickbait. You know there is a strong, one-sided, opinion being expressed. So you click.

So here I am with that type of clickbait story. Announcing the death of the largest nation on the planet, at least by land size.

But I feel confident about the substance of this story. Call it intuition.

At this very moment, this nation seems alive and kicking. You’re following the news, I’m sure; maybe not as obsessively as I am but following nonetheless. Dropping bombs on a neighboring country. Flexing its muscles. Looking to increase its landmass, as if it didn’t have enough.

I’m not a historian, nor a military expert. My musings are, well, musings. Subjective, emotional, often unsupported by facts. But let me express a few points, in no particular order.

• Over the last five days, Russia’s positive historic legacy — and that legacy has the blood of tens of millions who gave…