416. The Atomised Empire: Passivity, Cash, and the Fate of Putin’s Russia

This week, Roger Moorhouse sits down with exiled Russian journalist and Deutsche Welle commentator Konstantin Eggert for a candid look inside the Russian psyche. As Ukrainian long-range strikes push the realities of war onto Moscow’s doorstep, Eggert explains why the average Russian remains passive, how the Kremlin relies on life-changing sign-up bonuses to avoid mass mobilisation, and why the regime's true vulnerability lies in economic collapse rather than social solidarity.

Highlights:

• The Consumer Shield: Why modern Russians—who have apartments, mortgages, and holidays to lose—actively choose "learned depoliticisation" over civic responsibility.
• Transactional Warfare: A look at the cold, transactional nature of Russia's heavy death toll, where "coffin money" often stifles parental grief.
• The Prime Minister's Trap: How Russia’s constitution gives current PM Mikhail Mishustin massive immediate power if Putin dies, and why the FSB might not easily keep control.
• A Moral Wake-up Call: Eggert’s cautious, long-term hope for a future Russian civic conscience that finally learns to say "I'm sorry" to Ukraine.

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Producer: James Hodgson

A Goalhanger Podcast

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