Who is running Russia while Putin plays war? 

As the war in Ukraine spilled into Russian territory, with shelling in the Russian city of Belgorod, President Vladimir Putin was busy explaining that he ‘sleeps like a normal person’ during an online meeting with families to honour Children’s day. That Putin mentioned his healthy sleeping pattern, without discussing the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod – where civilians, including children, were being evacuated – left some observers wondering who is actually running the country while he plays war.  

Putin has a penchant for disengaging and struggling to make decisions, especially when there are no good ones left to make. He will micromanage his generals, but when it comes down to serious policy choices – like whether to announce another round of mobilisation, or intercede in the vicious conflict between his defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the head of the Wagner mercenaries Yevgeny Prigozhin – he can’t seem to make up his mind.