2.17 Relegation, Russian Style

2.17 Relegation, Russian Style

From The Eastern Border by Kristaps Andrejsons

March 19, 2026 · 35 min · Season 2 · Episode 18

About this episode

The episode explores the geopolitical failures within the Russian Federation through the metaphor of a rigged sports bracket.

The front office is panicking, the franchise player just demanded a trade, and the owner is literally burning down the stadium to pay the referees. Welcome to the ultimate geopolitical relegation zone. This week, we use the lens of a rigged sports bracket to break down the cascading failures inside the Russian Federation. We're tracking everything from Ilya Remeslo’s spectacular defection and the staggering demographic wipeout reported by the Free Russia Foundation, to the Federal Tax Service liquidating domestic shoe brands just to fund the meat grinder. Plus, we look at the physical collapse of the Russian internet, and how a digital blackout is leaving frontline trenches completely severed from reality. Make sure to stay until the very end to hear Evita’s incredibly accurate reading of some genuinely pathetic Z-doomer poetry. (Premium supporters on Patreon, Substack, and Fourthwall will get this poem as a separate, downloadable bonus track!) SUPPORT THE SHOW: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheEasternBorder Merch Shop: https://theeasternborder-shop.fourthwall.com/ Direct Donations & Crypto: https://theeasternborder.lv Support the frontline: https://car4ukraine.com/ Source…

People in this episode

Host: Kristaps Andrejsons

Topics covered

  • geopolitics
  • Russian Federation
  • sports
  • demographics
  • internet collapse
  • cultural commentary

Keywords

  • Russian politics
  • Ilya Remeslo
  • demographic wipeout
  • internet blackout
  • sports metaphor
  • geopolitical analysis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Free Russia Foundation, Federal Tax Service

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