Oleksandr Shulha, Doctor of Sociology and head of the Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia, said on Espreso TV.“There’s another important aspect that’s slowly starting to dawn on the Russian elite — and we can see this reflected in their publications and discussions. Russia has no rear base. Not in the sense of the Far East, but in the sense that Ukraine has one — the European Union and Western countries, where it can receive material support, weapons, and even relocate production,” he explained.According to Shulha, Russia lacks real allies.“On the contrary, its so-called partners profit from Russia’s problems and sanctions — buying its sanctioned goods cheaply and reselling at triple the price, or supplying sanctioned materials for the war at an even higher markup. This is an existential issue for Russians: in reality, they have no allies. China acts as a sovereign, and Russia is increasingly becoming its vassal. India, Turkey, and the Central Asian countries simply make money off sanctions trading,” he said.The sociologist believes this trajectory shows that Russia is not evolving into a regional superpower, but instead continues to weaken.“The latest sanctions are a clear example of that. And the way Russia itself has interpreted these sanctions is also quite telling — it says a lot about Moscow’s strategy for the coming year,” Shulha concluded.