Take everything "Russian officials" say with a mountain of salt.

If it's ~15%/week, that's 1.15^52 = 143300%/year.

Other signs of Russia's decline and Putin's weakening hold on power:

- Butter is now gold [0]

- Russians wait in lines for 5+ hours for cheap eggs [1]

- Steam, water, and sewage pipes are breaking everywhere and getting worse [2]

- There are a lot of western goods still sold in Russian grocery stores because smuggling in violation of sanctions is an ineffective speed-bump [3]

- Local officials officially announced preparation for the likelihood of winter power outages by buying generators, stoves, and firewood [I can't find original sources because they are in Russian]

A government that can't pickup the garbage or keep the lights on won't stay in power for long, no matter how ignorant or ideologically-radicalized the populace has become.

0. https://www.newsweek.com/russians-resort-stealing-butter-ami...

1. https://www.newsweek.com/videos-show-massive-lines-eggs-russ...

2. https://www.ft.com/content/81985842-e20a-4f2a-96b6-69aeddbe5...

3. https://en.thebell.io/coca-cola-quit-russia-but-you-can-stil...

PS: There will be no use of nuclear weapons for many reasons. Firstly, the Russian military cannot keep a secret and there have been zero signs of mobilization for a nuclear attack. Secondly, Putin likes living not dying. Third, it would spoil his legacy. Fourth, Russia would immediately become a pariah worse than North Korea. Fifth, fallout drifts unpredictably. Sixth, conventional forces do more damage. Seventh, they are more internationally normalized than nuclear ones by being allowed to continue without a stronger, more direct response.

It seems that Putin has indeed succeeded in rebuilding the USSR, but only on the economic side.

[dead]