2.30 The Empire Bleeds, Part 1
From The Eastern Border by Kristaps Andrejsons
May 25, 2026 · 44 min · Season 2 · Episode 30
About this episode
The episode explores the internal collapse of the Russian state amidst external pressures and conflicts.
In Part 1 of our massive 2.30 Double-Feature, we aren't looking at the frontlines—we are looking at the multi-organ failure of the Russian state. Terminal gangrene has set in. While Washington think-tanks and Senator Marco Rubio panic over a conventional Russian ground invasion of the Baltics, the reality on the ground is mathematically absurd. We kick things off by roasting the American hockey machine (Latvia 4, USA 2) before diving into the absolute, sweating desperation of the Kremlin. From dropping $80-million "Oreshnik" tungsten crowbars on Ukrainian garages, to the eradication of 25% of Russia's oil refining capacity, the empire is bankrupting itself. We break down the Chinese betrayal in Beijing, the Russian oligarchs begging the FSB for "rules," the looming bank run outlined by Igor Lipsits, and the absolute mutiny happening in the comments of the heavily censored Yandex Dzen. The social contract is dead, and the elites are fighting over the pirate treasure while the ship goes down. The Eastern Border is an entirely independent, listener-supported journalism project operating 22km from the Russian border. If you want to keep the servers humming and the moonshine flowing…
People in this episode
Host: Kristaps Andrejsons
Topics covered
- Russian state failure
- Kremlin desperation
- Ukrainian conflict
- Chinese betrayal
- Russian oligarchs
- bank run
- social contract collapse
Keywords
- Russian state
- Kremlin
- Ukrainian garages
- oil refining
- bankruptcy
- Latvia
- USA
- Chinese betrayal
- FSB
- Yandex Dzen
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: FSB, Yandex Dzen
Books & works: Oreshnik
Places: Latvia, USA, Beijing
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