The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 15th, 2025: Is Vladimir Putin losing his grip on power?

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

In this Special Edition of the PDB Afternoon Bulletin, we ask the question: is Vladimir Putin losing his grip on power? We examine growing cracks in the regime: mysterious deaths, arrested billionaires, and an economy cannibalizing itself to fund the war in Ukraine. Across the region, longtime allies are turning away—and inside Russia, dissent is brewing, from quiet protests to ultranationalists now calling Putin weak.   Control still looks firm on the surface—but the foundation may be shifting.   Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold American Financing: Call American Financing today to find out how customers are saving an avg of $800/mo. 866-885-1881 or visit http://www.AmericanFinancing.net/PDB . NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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and national security circles that question is is Vladimir Putin losing his grip on power Now, this isn't about palace gossip or social media speculation. It's about connecting the dots between a number of stories that we've been covering here on the PDB, suspicious deaths inside the Kremlin, a crumbling wartime economy, weakening global influence, and signs of dissent, both at home and within Russia's elite. We may not have a direct window into Putin's inner circle, but we can examine the pressure points, and right now, while they're starting, to multiply. We're going to start with the mysterious deaths. How's that for a topic? Until recently, Roman Sterevoitz was Russia's transport minister. Now, not exactly a household name, but still the

high-ranking official in Putin's cabinet who had held that position for a little over a year. Then, just days ago, he was abruptly dismissed. And within hours of that dismissal, well, he was dead. his body discovered in his car in Moscow with a bullet wound to the head. Now, the official story, suicide, ironically using a pistol that had been gifted to him by the Kremlin itself. There's a coincidence. Now in most countries, that might be where the story ends, a tragic end for a disgraced government official. But this is Russia under Vladimir Putin, and Starvoit is just the latest name on a long and growing list of Kremlin officials, oligarchs and executives who turned up dead under mysterious circumstances.

Earlier this month, as another example, Andrei Badalov, a top oil executive and vice president of the state-owned pipeline giant transneft since 2021, was found dead beneath the windows of his Moscow home. They really have to stay away from the windows. Authorities quickly ruled it a suicide. Now, some have fallen from windows. Others shot themselves. Some with government issued weapons. A few have been found with suicide notes that don't quite match their handwriting. It's become a pattern, and in a regime built on fear and loyalty, these deaths can be instructive. They send a message, step out of line, and there are consequences. And mysterious deaths are the only recent sign of trouble amongst Russia's ruling class. Just days ago, another figure found

himself on the wrong side of the Kremlin. Billioner Mining Tycoon Konstantin Strukov, Now, Strukov was detained by security agents on a runway in Chelyabinsk as he tried to board his private jet out of the country. His planned destination was Turkey. But the jet never left the ground. Russian authorities pulled him off the plane and confiscated his passport, citing a court order. Now, this wasn't just a travel violation, it was another message. Strukov made his fortune in gold. His company is one of the largest gold producers in Russia, but now it's his the Kremlin's crosshairs. The government is moving to seize control of the business, part of a growing push to reassert state control over what it calls, quote, strategic assets. So we'll have some of those,

please. Here's a man once honored by Putin, now being sidelined and stripped of power, and it tells us something critical about the state of Russian finances, which brings us to our next pressure point, the Russia economy. On paper, Russia claims to be weathering Western sanctions. official stats boast low unemployment, stable GDP figures, and rising industrial output. State media points to bustling factories and record arms productions, but those numbers don't tell the full story, and they certainly don't reflect what ordinary Russians are experiencing. In reality, the economy is far more fragile than the headlines suggest. Russia has been quietly nationalizing assets at an increasing rate.

According to recent reporting, the Kremlin has seized. over $50 billion worth of property from foreign firms, domestic companies, and politically inconvenient billionaires. It's a clear attempt to keep the war machine running, propping up military spending and payrolls by stripping assets wherever the Kremlin can find them. But make no mistake, this is a wartime economy cannibalizing itself to survive. Putin's financial safety net does appear to be wearing thin. Russia's National Wealth Fund, the Rainy Day Reserve built from years of oil and gas profits is reportedly drying up fast. Liquid assets have dropped to just $36 billion, their lowest level since 2019. That's down more than

two-thirds from before the invasion of Ukraine. If current trends hold, economists say the fund could be depleted entirely by the year 26. In short, Moscow is hemorrhaging rubles, keeping the war in Ukraine going, and it's burning through its financial reserves to do it. The longer the conflict drags on, well, of course, the more the pressure mounts, and with shrinking revenues and growing costs, even Putin's war chest has a shelf life. Meanwhile, what about the average Russian? How have they been faring? Well, food prices rose by roughly 12.5% year over year as of May, with staples like potatoes more than tripling in price over the past year. Meanwhile, consumer inflation hovers near 10%, largely driven by rising costs in essentials.

Inside the household, well, it's getting tight. In April, families spent about 34.6% of their incomes on food. That's up six percentage points from last year. Wages, by contrast, have barely moved. With average monthly pay hovering near 39,000 rubles, that's about $500 U.S. dollars, there's little room to maneuver. Consumer spending is down, manufacturing is down, manufacturing. manufacturing growth is stalling, and the central bank has been forced to keep interest rates near 20 to 21 percent, trying to stem inflation while choking off recovery. The result, Russians are living under what economists usually call stagflation, prices climbing, economic growth grinding to a halt, and wages nowhere near keeping pace. And the state's answer? Well, the Kremlin

decided the answer would be cartoons. A new animated series called Sand pit is in the works. It's a trailer released just days ago, and the show features toddler versions of world leaders, including Putin, Trump, Xi Jinping, and others, and I am not making this up. In the cartoons, Putin is portrayed as calm and commanding, while his Western counterparts are shown as chaotic or clueless. The creator, one of Putin's top propagandists, says the goal is to promote, quote, patriotism among Russian children, and while it's not an official Kremlin production, it fits neatly within Moscow's broader propaganda playbook, shaping loyalties early and framing Putin as the steady hand in a disorderly world. Yes, that's certainly how we would

describe him. All right, coming up next, we'll look at the crumbling myth of Russian regional dominance, and why the biggest threat to Putin's grip on power might not come from the streets, but from inside the palace walls. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's take a brief moment to talk about ways to protect your hard-earned savings. Now, look, I know the personal finance talk isn't everybody's favorite, but it is incredibly important, particularly in times of uncertainty. Look, one of the smartest ways to protect your savings is through diversification, right? And one way to diversify is with gold.

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Quiet, no. Krispy, saucy, and $4? Very. Only at 711. Valley 36-2326, participating stores only well supplies lastly out for full terms. Welcome back to this special edition of the BDB afternoon bulletin. So far, we've looked at growing pressure inside Russia from suspicious deaths among Putin's inner circle to billionaires being grounded

and stripped of their assets to an economy, bleeding cash just to keep the war effort alive. We've also seen how the Kremlin is turning to propaganda, cartoons, to shore up its image at home, while ordinary Russians struggle under rising prices, stagnant wages, and shrinking purchasing power. Now, for our next pressure point, we want to zoom out a bit and look at how Putin's power is holding up beyond Russia's borders, in the, quote, near abroad, as it's sometimes called. That would be countries like Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. Well, the normally firm grasp that Russia has held on its neighborhood is showing signs of slipping. Take Azerbaijan. In late June, Russian security forces carried out raids in Yakaterinburg.

targeting ethnic Azerbaijani's. Now, two men died in custody as a result, prompting accusations from Baku of torture and ethnic violence. Azerbaijan responded swiftly, canceling official visits, suspending joint cultural events, and even raiding the Baku office of the Russian state media outlet Sputnik. Seven people were detained on charges, ranging from fraud to money laundering. Now, this isn't just a diplomatic spat. It appears to be festering into a complete rupture between the two nations. Azerbaijan froze high-level talks, expelled Russian cultural programs, and some had Moscow's ambassador. The message was loud and clear. We are not your satellite. And so far, Russia, possibly surprisingly, hasn't pushed back. Well, we can take a look at Armenia,

which is openly warming up to the West. Earlier this year, Armenian troops joined the U.S. in joint military exercises, showing a stronger alignment with Washington. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nikol Pashin government adopted legislation to start the EU accession process. Now, he also froze Armenia's participation in the Russian-led CSTO security bloc and began reclaiming control of borders previously managed by Russian forces. Even Central Asian allies are hedging their bets. Kazakhstan is deepening ties with China and Georgia is looking to Europe. The picture is clear. The image of Moscow, as the regional strongman appears to be fading. And then, of course, course, there's Ukraine. What was supposed to be a lightning-fast victory is now a grinding war of

attrition. The Russian military, once feared, has been exposed as corrupt, inefficient, and often dependent on outdated equipment and conscripted manpower. The fact has cost Putin not just soldiers, but prestige at home. And now we come to the real wildcard, Putin's own base of support. The March election officially gave him an astounding 88% of the vote. which, if taken at face value, would make him the most beloved leader on the planet. North Korean numbers, but with a Russian twist. But no independent observers were allowed. Opposition candidates were barred, and the entire process took place under a cloud of censorship,

surveillance, and staged loyalty. That 88% isn't public support. It's theater. It's what happens when the state writes the script, casts the actors, and counts the ballots, behind closed doors. But even under that kind of control, cracks are forming. Anti-war protests, though small, have broken through in major cities. On the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine in February, Russians from Moscow to Yacatarinaburg laid flowers and held quiet demonstrations opposing the war, now despite strict laws banning such expressions. It's not exactly mass

uprisings, but they are small acts of defiance in a system where dissatisfying. can mean prison, or worse. But perhaps most concerning for Putin, some of the regime's loudest former supporters are starting to turn. Hardline Russian ultrationalists, once the loudest boosters of his strongman image, are increasingly vocal in their criticisms of Putin, known as, quote, angry patriots, or Z-patriots. This loose coalition of war bloggers, military commentators, and paramilitary figures is calling out Putin for being weak, indecisive, and too cautious about victory in Ukraine. A leading voice in this camp is an individual named Igor Gurkin, also known as Strokhov. A former FSB officer and militia commander turned critic.

In April, 2003, he launched the Club of Angry Patriots. Well, that sounds like a fun club. Directly accusing Putin of failing to harness Russia's full war potential. By July, well, he was arrested for extremism. a clear sign that his critique had hit too close to home. But the arrest of Gurkin didn't bring the criticism to an end. The Z-Patriots are openly rebuking Kremlin leadership. Now, these aren't fringe voices.

They're Putin's own base, ideologically driven, heavily armed, and increasingly frustrated. So, back to our original question. Is Putin losing his grip on power? Well, the truth is, only those behind the Kremlin's walls know for sure. sure. But here's what we can say. The pressure is mounting. Politically, economically, Putin is being squeezed, and history tells us something important. In regimes like this, collapse tends to follow a pattern. It builds quietly over years. The cracks deepen, and the facade holds until suddenly it doesn't. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon

bulletin for Tuesday, the 15th of July. To listen to the show ad-free, Well, you can do that. It's very simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDP Premium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary.

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