Putin - Ukraine - Trump
Dec 7 2025 The Guardian
Putin should have accepted Trump’s deal. Now Russia’s collapsing economy could lead to his downfall
People in Britain who think they are governed by fools should take a closer look at the Russian and US presidents. Vladimir Putin is systematically ruining his country. His war of choice in Ukraine is an economic, financial, geopolitical and human calamity for Russia that worsens by the day. For his own murky reasons, Donald Trump, another national menace, offered him a lifeline last week. Yet Putin spurned it. These two fools deserve each other.
Statistics during a war will always be estimates and the numbers will be difficult to verify, but below is one calculation of Russian losses as of today. This is from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and even if this calculation is off by 50%, the numbers are alarmingly high. The human casualty number alone is staggering, and will create societal issues in the future.
07.12.2025
Tanks — 11,401 (+3)
Armored fighting vehicle — 23,688
Artillery systems — 34,907 (+33)
MLRS — 1,562 (+2)
Anti-aircraft warfare — 1,253
Planes — 431
Helicopters — 347
UAV — 87,927 (+540)
Cruise missiles — 4,054 (+30)
Ships (boats) — 28
Submarines — 1
Cars and cisterns — 69,135 (+98)
Special equipment — 4,015
Military personnel — aprx. 1,180,870 people (+1,080)
The +1,080 in the personnel number, is the added casualties since yesterday. This is actually a lower number than in any of the previous six days, and the seventh was +1,060. So, just during these past seven days the total casualties add up to over 8,000. And for 2025; more than 280,000 killed or injured in the first eight months.
If that is not serious enough, below is a quote from the piece about economic issues facing Russians.
After two years of growth artificially fuelled by higher defence spending, Russia’s oil and gas income, representing up to 50% of state revenue, is down 27% year-on-year, and recession looms. Inflation is up, at 8%; interest rates top 16%. The budget deficit is rising, more than half of Russia’s liquid sovereign wealth fund has been squandered since 2022, state monopolies face huge debts, foreign investment has plunged, import costs of strategic goods have risen by 122%, and consumer taxes are soaring, all to fund Putin’s war. Russians must even pay more to drown their sorrows: the price of vodka is up 5%.
