2.30 The Empire Bleeds, Part 1

In Part 1 of our massive 2.30 Double-Feature, we aren't looking at the frontlines—we are looking at the multi-organ failure of the Russian state. Terminal gangrene has set in.While Washington think-tanks and Senator Marco Rubio panic over a conventional Russian ground invasion of the Baltics, the reality on the ground is mathematically absurd. We kick things off by roasting the American hockey machine (Latvia 4, USA 2) before diving into the absolute, sweating desperation of the Kremlin. From dropping $80-million "Oreshnik" tungsten crowbars on Ukrainian garages, to the eradication of 25% of Russia's oil refining capacity, the empire is bankrupting itself.We break down the Chinese betrayal in Beijing, the Russian oligarchs begging the FSB for "rules," the looming bank run outlined by Igor Lipsits, and the absolute mutiny happening in the comments of the heavily censored Yandex Dzen. The social contract is dead, and the elites are fighting over the pirate treasure while the ship goes down.The Eastern Border is an entirely independent, listener-supported journalism project operating 22km from the Russian border. If you want to keep the servers humming and the moonshine flowing, please consider supporting us:Become our patron:https://www.patreon.com/theeasternborderMerch store + another option for memberships:https://theeasternborder-shop.fourthwall.com/Follow what's going on here in the very border of Eastern Europe:https://bsky.app/profile/theeasternborder.lvDownload all episodes for free on our website; pictures accompanying certain episodes can be found there as well!http://theeasternborder.lv/Donate to the Ukrainian army so that they can get the trucks that they need:https://car4ukraine.com/Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theeasternborder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.