THINGS AREN’T GOING AS PLANNED FOR VLAD: Kazakhstan to Putin: Pound sand. “Vladimir Putin’s miscalculations in Ukraine have multiplied in the last two days. In the first place, the Russian army appears to be struggling to overcome the unexpectedly fierce resistance from fully mobilized Ukrainians, despite massive numerical and technological advantages. At the same time, allies whom Putin assiduously courted over the last several years have done an abrupt about-face, blasting Putin publicly over his naked aggression in Europe. None of these backfires is more surprising than in Kazakhstan. Putin just got done rescuing President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev from a serious uprising six weeks ago, sending Russian army formations to put down demonstrators in Almaty. With his invasion bogging down, Putin asked Tokayev for more troops to support the Ukraine invasion. Not only did Tokayev refuse, he went further in refusing to recognize the ‘independent’ states Putin set up in the Donbas.”

Astonishing the world with their ingratitude. Cynical me says that it’s going even worse for Putin than we know, but that the regional players know it.