Will Russia collapse?  Or blow us all up?  Or win in the end?

Senior Russian official Dmitry Medvedev said Russia may be forced to use a nuclear weapon if Ukraine’s counteroffensive succeeds. 

In this case Medvedev is probably being used as a mouthpiece for a warning Putin wants the west to hear, but does not wish to articulate himself.

Medvedev’s remarks raise the possibility that Russia could potentially lose the war following nearly 18 months of attrition – a rare admission from a senior Russian official.  The war is continuing to go badly for Russia.  At the same time Ukrainian forces are making slow progress and having large numbers of casualties in their counter offensive in eastern Ukraine.  There are varied claims of the war, with some saying that Russia is making advances in the north, while others say that Ukraine is about to break through Russian lines on the way to the Azov Sea and Crimea.

In the midst of the fog of war it is not always possible to know the exact truth of the situation, but it is clear that both sides are losing thousands of men in the conflict.  Ukraine claims that 250,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war, although Western analysts believe that number is lower. A former Russian Lieutenant Colonel Valerie Zaluzhnyi has revealed the shocking extent of decay and corruption inside Putin’s army, predicting it is heading towards defeat.  There is low morale in Russia’s army with some soldiers on the verge of mutiny.

Developments within Russia are unnerving the population.   The extraordinary coup attempt by the Wagner group showed the growing loss of control by the Kremlin over events.  A number of drone attacks have hit prestige targets in Moscow, some located only a few kilometres from the Kremlin.   Mysterious sabotage attacks are taking place, some attributed to the Free Russia Legion, made up of dissident Russian soldiers and volunteers who want to end the Putin regime. 

Russia is in a worse economic position than it was before the war, as it has been hit by a barrage of sanctions severely targeting, among others, its oligarchs and energy exports.  The value of the ruble is falling with warnings of an economic collapse on the horizon.  As well as becoming a pariah in the west and dubbed a war criminal, Putin is losing support of his allies, particularly China and Turkey.  At home he is reportedly terrified of assassination attempts or removal by mafia and oligarch elements who have lost their money due to his bungled invasion of Ukraine.

The possibility of all this leading to a collapse of the Russian Federation similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 is exercising the minds of the western alliance.  The Moscow Times confirmed that secret diplomatic talks are ongoing between senior US national security officials and high-ranking members of the Kremlin, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an effort to lay the groundwork for negotiations to end the war. US planners fear that if Russia suffers a humiliating defeat and internal collapse it could make a bad situation worse, leading to a very dangerous situation as factions fight for control of a country with thousands of nuclear weapons in its territory. 

One projection from Russian nationalists sees Muslim influence taking control of a number of key state powers by 2030.  This is a quotation from a man calling himself  Bulbe de Thrones, who moves in nationalist circles. https://nadinbrzezinski.medium.com/an-awareness-of-change-comes-to-russians-dc4792d4dd72 :

The translation is a bit difficult in places, but the drift of his argument is clear.  He is fearing an Islamic replacement of the Russian people, culture and religion in Russian cities. 

The west too is worried about the prospect of a Russian collapse.  One US official commented:

All of this raises questions about Russia and Bible prophecy.  Russia is currently linked up with China in opposing the western led globalist agenda / New World Order.  Its motivation for invading Ukraine was to prevent the NATO / EU / western world order project from taking over Ukraine which Putin regards as a part of the Russian area of control.  Putin has spoken of his own ‘world order’ project, which wants to restore Russian power as in the Soviet Union and set up an alternative globalist structure with China and the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). 

If Russia is successful in reaching its aim in Ukraine, we would be left with a dangerous threat to the stability of Europe.  However that does not look likely on current form. A loss for Russia in Ukraine could also be dangerous leading to either a collapse of Russia or a hot war with nuclear weapons between the rival powers.  A full scale nuclear war would lead to an apocalyptic scenario bringing civilisation to an end and make it impossible for the Antichrist to come in with his peace plan and world government agenda, although a limited nuclear exchange might actually be the catalyst for that happening. 

It is known that the western powers have had a plan to undermine Russia, using Ukraine to bring it into line with the western based world order programme.  This was set out in 1997 in a book called the Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski, former US national security adviser, founder of the globalist Trilateral Commission and Council on Foreign Relations.  The plan specifically involved bringing Ukraine into the western / NATO / EU orbit first, then using Ukraine as a base from which to destabilise and take down Russia.  Russia would then be split into 6 separate regions, none of which would be able to resist American / NATO / EU domination. 

One question which occurs to me is the possibility that the coming Antichrist could bring about an east-west union out of this chaos in order to create his one world government.  If this did include Russia, as one of the ten kings, it would be likely that Russia would break up the union and be one of the three kings who get out of line in the coming tribulation time.  Daniel 9.17-22

¹⁷ Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. ¹⁸ O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

²⁰ Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, ²¹ yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. ²² And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.

Daniel 9.17-22

We still have the Gog and Magog war (Ezekiel 38-39) to consider in which Russia (or a power to the north) leads an invasion of Israel in the last days. For more on this see my article “Russia, Iran, Israel and God” https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/current-issues/russia-iran-israel-and-god/ .  I have generally thought that this war happens before or at the beginning of the tribulation.  In other words it could happen soon.  If Russia turns the tables and comes out on top in the Ukraine war, that could be the next move. 

If not, it is improbable that Russia would want to get into another major war in the Middle East. Maybe an Islamic takeover of parts of existing Russia could be the catalyst for the Gog and Magog war.  If so this would push the Gog Magog war to an event some years down the line, possibly as an Islamic invasion of Israel at the end of the tribulation, thus setting off the first stage of Armageddon. 

This is the view held by Joel Richardson in his book, The Islamic Antichrist.  Note Joel Richardson sees an Islamic leader coming out of Turkey leading this invasion rather than Russia leading it. 

We certainly live in interesting (and perilous) times.