According to security expert Christian Mölling, the power base of Russian President Vladimir Putin is being threatened by his regime's increasing economic problems. Mölling said on Friday in the stern podcast "Ukraine – the situation" that the West's sanctions would have an effect. It is obvious that money is getting tight in Moscow; the business elite complained that things were not going well. "The problems will grow," expects the research director of the German Society for Foreign Relations. "It will be interesting to see where Putin's power base will be if he can no longer pay his entourage."

For Putin it is crucial that the support of his rule continues to pay off. Overall, Mölling sees the Russian President in a difficult position. He said: "Putin built himself a political trap with this war." In order to get out of this, the Russian leadership needs, among other things, many new soldiers. "I'm at a loss as to how they want to do it." He recalled that the recruitment wave in the fall had already triggered resistance. Whoever joins the Russian army now is very likely to face suffering. In the case of men recruited by force, however, it is unclear what effect they have at the front.

Mölling saw the arrest of a US reporter on suspicion of espionage as an attempt to further restrict reporting from Russia. "The picture is getting blurry," he lamented. In the end, only intelligence reports, exiles and chat channels remained as sources of information. At some point it will no longer be possible to check which information about the situation in Russia is correct and which is not.

In the Ukraine itself, Mölling expects it will soon be clear whether the Russians will be pushed back. "We will see in the next two or three weeks whether the Ukrainian plan works," he said. The goal of the Ukraine is to weaken the Russian troops in battles that result in losses, such as in Bakhmut, in order to then attack them with newly introduced soldiers and new material.