February 7, 2026: Since World War II, Russia has been described as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Four years of war in Ukraine have had a catastrophic impact inside Russia. A growing number of Russians believe that their country is descending from being a major power to a weak, corrupt outlaw state. Most of the blame is the result of the four year Ukraine War. This has led to anger, dissatisfaction and despair among many Russians.

The problem is that Russians are unsure or uneasy about protesting the war. Russians traditionally put up with a lot of misfortunes without complaining. The current situation includes inflation, higher taxes, less maintenance of infrastructure including transportation, and dilapidated state-supported housing with water and heat problems. Even making these repairs yourself is difficult because the sanctions have disrupted the availability of tools and parts. Calling on a local repairman often won’t work because so many plumbers, carpenters and electricians have been mobilized into the army to fight in Ukraine. Those that return describe a horrific experience dealing with drones and officers with orders to shoot any soldier that is reluctant to fight.

Everything costs more, if you can find it on the frequently empty shelves of your local store. Travelling to other areas to take care of an ill parent, or see if the local stores are better stocked, is frustrating because the railroads, buses and commercial aircraft are unreliable. Most of the commercial aircraft are made by Boeing or Airbus and the sanctions prohibit upgrades, repairs and spare parts for aircraft. Some Russian airlines have improvised and carried passengers in Russian made cargo transport aircraft.

Russians have no one they can complain to, at least not anyone who can set things right. Government officials will record your complaint, file it away and tell you, when you later make inquiries about progress, that a solution is coming. They never offer an arrival date for any solutions. There is another problem, more and more of the officials are not Slavic Russians, but people from the Central Asian or Caucasus regions of Russia. These people have a much higher birth rate and are outnumbering Slavic Russians in many areas.

Another disturbing trend is that fewer foreigners are seeking residency and citizenship in Russia. That is not really surprising to most Russians, who themselves would like to live in some other country. Several years ago the government outlawed the departure of military age men from Russia. Many left illegally and other civilians are blocked from legal migration because of the growing labor shortage.

You would think that Russians would get out in the streets to protest all these problems. That’s not the way it is done these days. Government officials will pretend to listen but will do nothing. Russians know this and most refuse to demonstrate, especially with all the other day-to-day problems they have to live with.

In any event, protesting Putin’s war won’t do anything. Even if Putin were to die, his successor would have no incentive to change anything, except maybe end the war in Ukraine. At the moment that’s an impossible dream. These days dreams are all most Russians can depend on.