“The ring around Russia is tightening”: an expert explains which allies Putin has already lost

Political strategist Mykhailo Sheitelman said that Russia first lost Europe, then began losing the Middle East; now even Orbán has lost elections in Hungary, and even Africa is rising against the Kremlin, Politeka reports.

He spoke about this on his blog.

“Lavrov has once again reignited the discussion about Russia’s allies in this war. He said that Russia has always had two allies—the army and the navy—and now there are also the aerospace forces and drone troops, and their number will grow. Well, Lavrov should be challenged here. You can see how the Defense Forces are reducing the number of such Russian ‘allies.’ But on the global political stage, the ring around Russia is simply shrinking,” Sheitelman notes.

According to him, Iran is already finished; Syria and Venezuela are no longer even worth mentioning; Orbán has lost the elections in Hungary and will no longer even be a member of parliament. In general, with such methods, Russia will have no allies, the expert says. Recently, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova stated that EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas could win a championship in pig squealing—so there is no longer any talk of the “spirit of Anchorage” or of improving relations with Europe. Meanwhile, he adds, Zelensky visited Azerbaijan, a recent ally of Russia, and spoke with Aliyev about military-technical cooperation and joint production.

“But the most interesting situation is unfolding in Mali. And this is no accident. It seems to be the beginning of a ‘great friendship’ between France and Russia. If you recall, at the very start of the war Russia suddenly achieved major successes in Africa: they were taking over one country after another, Wagner PMC flags everywhere, coups… Burkina Faso, Mali, another country I can’t recall right now. They were effectively taking countries away from the French to steal gold and uranium. And now in Mali the Tuaregs have launched a counteroffensive. Against whom? Against the Russians,” Sheitelman says.

The Tuaregs have already managed, he continues, to push the Russians out of the city of Kidal; Malian troops are surrendering en masse; even Mali’s defense minister has reportedly been killed, though this information requires confirmation; entire crews of Russian helicopters have crashed; two planes have been shot down. Meanwhile, the French, the expert notes, have blown up a launch pad for Russian Soyuz rockets at the Kourou spaceport—indicating that the road back for Russia is closed.