I absolutely get what you’re saying and there’s a lot of truth in it, imo.

However, whenever I stumble across the sentiment that Putin ‘cannot afford to look weak’ in order to survive, I can’t help but wonder how on earth he’s still president:

He led his country into a ‘3-day adventure’ that’s been ongoing for more than four years now - an end not at all in sight, on Crimea they have to pay 2,90€ per litre for fuel, if there’s some at all that is, while across the entire country, they wait in endless queues towards petrol stations. He wasted more than a million husbands, fathers, sons, friends of his people, leaving a gaping hole in an already troubled demographic development, the economy is only kept alive by defence spending, whereas the usual powerhouse of the company, the fossil-based energy sector is in shambles and Russia needs to import (!) fuel.

Summarising: he already is weak, unsuccessful and frail. If he really were that threatened by that, he’d been long gone. So I don’t buy it. He can end it whenever he pleases.