Moscow Gripped by Kremlin Purge - Jason Jay Smart

Moscow and St. Petersburg remain under a digital blackout as mobile internet restrictions spread, forcing residents onto a Kremlin-approved "whitelist" of state websites. While officials claim the outages stop Ukrainian drones, the lack of public alarms during alleged 65-drone strikes suggests a deeper motive of domestic censorship and control. Economic costs are mounting, with Moscow losing an estimated $12.5 Million to $25 Million daily while teachers in ten regions go unpaid due to budget strain.

This blackout coincides with a brutal internal purge targeting the inner circle of former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Ruslan Tsalikov, Shoigu’s longtime first deputy, is now under arrest, signaling a total collapse of protection for the once-powerful military clan. Meanwhile, Ivan Tkachev’s move to military counterintelligence marks a strategic expansion for Igor Sechin’s network, shifting the balance of power within the FSB. As Putin remains largely out of the public eye, the shrinking of these old elite networks points to a regime increasingly paranoid about its own capital.

The military situation continues to deteriorate as precision strikes hit the heart of Russia’s defense industry. A strike on the Kremniy El plant in Bryansk has crippled the production of 1,200 critical missile components, leaving the Kremlin without a single-source supplier. With oil revenues falling 47% year-over-year and protests erupting in allied Cuba, the economic and political pillars of the regime are visibly buckling.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Digital Darkness and deep strikes in Russia
01:03 The crumbling of Putin's inner circle (Shoigu)
02:11 The truth behind the internet outages
03:04 Mapping the Ukrainian drone strikes
04:18 Why the Kremlin's "whitelist" is a lie
05:15 The mysterious Moscow "attacks"
06:21 Fear of a domestic uprising
07:18 Economic strain and unpaid teachers
08:24 The disappearance of Vladimir Putin
09:12 Dictators and the arrogance of power
10:14 Global instability: Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela
11:13 The 150km drone "kill zone"
12:00 Strategic strikes on Crimea and Kerch
12:55 Internal power struggles (Sechin vs. Military)
13:35 The collapsing Russian economy
14:00 Putin’s time is up