The Butcher of Moscow: Putin’s “Brilliant” War Plan

Section 1: The Body Count That Keeps on Climbing

Ah yes, Vladimir Putin, the man who thinks he’s reviving the Russian Empire but is really just auditioning for the world’s worst butcher shop. Since February 2022, his “special military operation” has produced at least 13,883 dead Ukrainian civilians—that’s the official UN number, which means it’s the floor, not the ceiling. The UN admits they can’t even count the corpses trapped in the rubble of cities Russia bombed into dust. So when Putin brags about “liberating” Ukraine, what he really means is reducing entire neighborhoods to cemeteries.

And let’s not forget the soldiers. Analysts put Russian military deaths at around 250,000, while Ukrainian forces have lost between 60,000 and 100,000. Toss in the wounded and we’re looking at over 1.3 million human beings chewed up by Putin’s vanity project. So congratulations, Vlad—you’ve turned your army into cannon fodder, Ukraine into a graveyard, and Russia into a demographic hospice ward. Bravo.

Section 2: The Child Thief of the Kremlin

If you thought killing civilians was enough evil for one lifetime, Putin decided to spice things up with child abduction. Nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported or forcibly displaced into Russia. The official Ukrainian “Children of War” registry lists them like missing posters at a nightmarish train station. Only about 1,500 have been returned. The rest? Shipped off to camps, foster homes, and propaganda factories where they’re taught to love Mother Russia.

The International Criminal Court didn’t issue an arrest warrant for Putin because they were bored on a Friday night. They did it because stealing children is a literal war crime. You can’t dress it up as “adoption” or “humanitarian rescue.” It’s kidnapping, plain and simple. Imagine a man who bombs your city, kills your parents, and then drags you across the border while calling himself your savior. That’s not patriotism—it’s state-sponsored child trafficking with a Kremlin stamp.

Section 3: The Genius Narrative (Spoiler: He’s No Chess Master)

But wait—his fanboys in the West still croon about Putin the “strategist.” Really? What kind of genius reduces his economy to rubble, drives his best young men into body bags, and turns Russia into a pariah state dependent on Iran’s drones and North Korea’s rockets? He’s not playing 4D chess—he’s flipping over the board, eating the pieces, and then declaring victory.

Putin wanted to capture Kyiv in three days. It’s been over three years and the only thing he’s captured is the title of “world’s most sanctioned dictator.” Even the Soviet Union at its most blundering would have called this a debacle. His “brilliance” looks a lot like Stalin cosplay mixed with a dash of mob boss delusion.

Section 4: The Human Cost vs. His Vanity

Every number in this war isn’t just data—it’s lives. The grandmother buried under rubble in Mariupol. The father who won’t come home from the front. The child stolen from Kherson and rebranded as Russian. Putin’s war isn’t about territory, security, or NATO—it’s about his ego. A dictator terrified of democracy next door. A man willing to drown the future in blood so he can sit at a 40-foot table and pretend he’s Peter the Great.

And what’s his legacy? Russia is poorer, weaker, older, and lonelier. He may sit on a throne of lies in Moscow, but history already has him pegged: a paranoid kleptocrat who traded lives for pride and got neither victory nor respect.

Section 5: The Bottom Line (Spoiler: It’s Blood)

So let’s add it up. 13,883 civilians murdered. 1.3 million soldiers dead or maimed. Nearly 20,000 children abducted. That’s not statesmanship. That’s not leadership. That’s not “defending the homeland.” That’s a crime spree dressed up in military fatigues.

Vladimir Putin hasn’t saved Russia—he’s bled it dry. He hasn’t defended “family values”—he’s kidnapped families. He hasn’t elevated his nation—he’s dragged it into the mud of history as the world’s most notorious war criminal of the 21st century.

But sure, keep calling him a “genius” if by genius you mean Butcher of Moscow, Child Thief of the Kremlin, and Gravedigger of His Own Country.

Julie Bolejack, MBA