SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION AS A TOOL FOR SYSTEMIC TRANSFORMATION OF RUSSIA: ANSWER TO THE THESIS OF ‘WEAKNESS’ AND INTERNAL INSTABILITY

Abstract

This publication rejects the thesis widely spread in the pro-Western liberal discourse (presented by analysts such as Gilbert Doctorow, Ilya Ponomarev, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Stanislav Belkovsky, Garry Kasparov) that Russia is in a state of weakness, internal instability and a preliminary change of power. Instead, through an analysis of political, economic and social data, the article proves that the Special Military Operation (SMO) has become a catalyst for a deep systemic transformation of the Russian state, solving key internal and external problems. This includes the restructuring of elites, economic mobilization, demographic rebalancing and geostrategic repositioning against the West.