Today, Vladimir Putin turns 70. He was congratulated only by two world leaders from outside of his small and shrinking circle of direct influence: Kim Jong-Un of North Korea and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega. That is not exactly the best and largest circle of international friends someone could wish for.
While Putin sits in his gilded Kremlin without friends, his stupid war on Ukraine is going wrong on all fronts. His depleted and exhausted army is failing to hold the line pretty much everywhere in the illegally annexed regions, and Ukrainian forces are cutting through them and sending them fleeing while retaking their territory at an encouraging speed.
On the home front, Putin's panic move to start a "partial" mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of people has been met with heavy criticism and sent Russian men fleeing the country in droves. Russian Forbes makes a credible estimate that as many as 700,000 people may have left Russia since the mobilisation was announced, and the exodus continues.
Here's wishing you a truly unhappy birthday, Putin. You deserve every bad thing coming your way.
