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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Simon Tisdall

Vladimir Putin’s ship of fools is sinking fast. Will he take everyone down with him?

Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Vladimir Putin: ‘During his TV address, his lack of basic political skills was matched by a chilling absence of human warmth and animation.’ Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/AP

More than ever, Vladimir Putin resembles the captain of the Titanic: steaming full speed ahead towards disaster, deluded by inaccurate assumptions about his ship’s invincibility, and blind to darkly looming hazards.

Everything the captain thinks he knows is wrong, the modern-day treasure hunter, Brock Lovett, says in the 1997 movie. And like the Titanic’s lookouts, wrong-headed Putin does not spot the iceberg until too late. There’s no avoiding catastrophe.

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