No, Putin is not finished

Vladimir Putin's inevitable political demise has been predicted by almost everyone, following the sort-of coup attempt by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. But Putin didn't get where he is today by surrendering as soon as there's trouble. He has had any number of bad days since he launched his war in Ukraine and yet he is still there. And the mutiny by Prigozhin, huge and dramatic though it was for 24 hours, was over so quickly it's almost as if it didn't happen. But won't the Russian people rise up and demand a new leader? People who think that don't understand the Russian people. They like Putin's tough image and his pledge to protect the motherland against the western powers. He has created paranoia and the Russian people believe him. After a time the Russian people will have forgotten the one-time chef who built up a private army, Putin will hand round a few medals to deserving loyalists and he will be back in harness before you know it. He is KGB through and through, not unlike being a mafia godfather, and he will do his damndest to survive and flourish. Putin has already had one huge boost since the so-called coup, open support from Beijing. While he has Xi Zinping behind him he can tell all of his critics and doubters, Russian or foreign, to go hang. And that's what he is going to do. Putin is not finished yet.