Shala in Telegrafi: “Russia fears Russians” — a column with lessons for the Balkans

PRISHTINA — In a column published by Telegrafi, Agron Shala argues that “Putin’s real fear is not NATO — it is demobilisation”. In his telling, falling domestic support for the war in Ukraine, soldier fatigue and the economic discontent of Russian citizens are the greatest threat to the Kremlin regime, not the expansion of the Atlantic Alliance.

Shala’s argument frames Russians not as a monolithic mass behind Putin, but as a divided society caught between fear and frustration. He cites declining front-line morale, tightened media controls and the blocking of digital platforms as signs the regime is well aware of the danger.

Although the column’s focus is geopolitical, reading it from Pristina has a double meaning: regimes that fear their own citizens tend to be more aggressive abroad.

The Argument

The thesis is persuasive, but requires caution. Russian domestic demobilisation is not automatic — Putin has survived several cycles of unrest through media control, economic patronage and selective repression. Optimism that the regime will fall “from within” has a poor historical record.

Even so, the Balkan lesson is clear: when regimes near Kosovo — be it Belgrade or capitals that flirt with authoritarianism — lose legitimacy, they tend to look for enemies abroad. That is a useful warning for Kosovan diplomacy, which must price in new uncertainties during election cycles in the neighbourhood.

Paraphrasing Shala, authoritarianism does not fear external force so much as internal indifference — when the citizen stops believing, the regime loses its axis.

Whatever one’s political stance, the Kosovan reader has every reason to engage with this column. Regional stability depends not only on borders but also on the internal health of neighbouring societies.

Source: Telegrafi — Opinion column by Agron Shala