Putin's Biggest Failure
- 13.06.2026, 15:28
Russia is no longer even the leading regional power.
For decades, Russia has maintained that most of the former Soviet republics constitute what the Kremlin calls its “near abroad.” It believes it retains the right to interfere in their affairs and even to invade them.
This is reported by a columnist for The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Casey Michel. He noted that this viewpoint existed long before Vladimir Putin came to power, but such regional hegemony is vital to his obsessive efforts to restore Russia’s status as a great power.
Michelle argues that many American presidents were not opposed to Russia serving as a regional hegemon.
“This applies to figures such as Bill Clinton, who pressured Ukraine and Kazakhstan to give up their nuclear weapons in favor of Russia, and Barack Obama, who turned a blind eye to Russia’s invasion of Georgia and softened the response to Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014,” the columnist noted.
However, given Putin’s failed war against Ukraine, Russia’s dreams of becoming a great power have turned into a fantasy.
“Russia is no longer even a leading regional power in the areas where it once dominated,” the columnist noted.
He noted that Ukraine has brought the fighting right into the heart of Russia. Furthermore, Ukraine’s successes have begun to undermine Russian control over Crimea, cutting off supplies to the occupied peninsula.
“Putin’s conviction that he can conquer even the rest of Donbas is increasingly at odds with reality, underscoring just how hollow Russia’s claims to regional hegemony are now,” Michel emphasized.
What’s happening in other countries
Other countries in Russia’s “near abroad” are also choosing their own path.
The Russian-occupied region of Transnistria is experiencing economic collapse and increasingly supports reintegration with Moldova. In Armenia, the government is moving in a pro-Western direction, having recently held its first bilateral summit with the European Union.
“Even after Putin threatened Yerevan with a ‘Ukrainian scenario,’ the government did not back down—this is very far from the behavior of a Russian vassal,” the journalist noted.
Michel noted that the countries of Central Asia are drifting further and further from Russia’s orbit. For instance, Kazakhstan has stated that its official history is linked not to Russia or the USSR, but to the steppe empire of the Golden Horde. In this interpretation, Moscow’s influence was viewed as imperial imposition.
At the same time, as Michel noted, the Kyrgyz-American researcher Erika Marat wrote that “perceptions of Russia in Kyrgyzstan have changed significantly following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
“Younger generations... view Sovietization as essentially a colonial experience, comparable to European colonization of Africa and Asia.”
As Russia’s strategic disaster in Ukraine becomes increasingly evident, it is not surprising that other former colonies in the “near abroad” are seeking to distance themselves from Moscow. But it still retains influence in Belarus, its only clear ally in its so-called “near abroad.”
“This is the exception that proves the rule,” the columnist emphasized.
Michelle believes that Russia’s regional influence has weakened along with its military successes in Ukraine, and the U.S. must do everything possible to support Kyiv, as well as Armenia and Moldova.
“America can help show Russia for what it really is: not a world power, and now, thanks to Putin, not even a regional one,” Michel concluded.