Russia Backs Europe’s Far Right (newlinesmag.com)

I enjoy these hypothetical what if's and am really rooting for Zelensky. My guess is there are quite a couple of candidates that if they're not murdered in all this would be in a good position to step up. E.g. Navalny, or even exiled people like Mikhail Khodorkovsky (aka Citizen K). The scary thing is that a power vacuum after Putin is like rolling the dice which might as well usher in the next dictator. Russia after Putin needs to be managed like Nazi Germany was managed by the allies post WWII. With army bases all over Russia to ensure a gradual adoption of rule of law. China will be pissed but that's the only chance to secure long term peace. But before any of this happens I fear things will need to become a lot worse to justify such a step. (e.g. wide scale use of chemical or nuclear weapons and RU invading other countries like the Baltics, Moldova, Poland etc).

guess all of this is spitballing because war turns any future unpredictable.

hopefully they do. guess the bitter pill is that the work for this needs to be done at home (not in Russia or UA).

I think yes. judging from historical IO's (active measures etc) RU did give a podium to anyone on both sides of the spectrum. The best way to sow discord in the "enemy" is to amplify both. I remember RT (Russia Today) was often applauded for giving far left talking heads a podium to speak up they would have not gotten on mainstream channels. People from diverse a background and ideology as Slavoj Zizek, Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Ed Snowden, etc ... who were known to critic legitimate things the US did the past 30 years (often horrible things). Not because Russia agrees but because it helped divide the enemy.