Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about three events dealing with Russia that need to be on everybody's radar.

First is the most noticeable.

Russian currency is not doing well.

On November 27th, the ruble dropped like a rock.

113 rubles equals $1.

Russia has now restricted currency supply and is trying to keep things afloat.

Inflation is officially at 8.5%, but it's probably higher in real life.

And the central bank raised its key interest rate to

21%. The situation and these policies are upsetting the oligarchs in the country. Some have even

spoken publicly about it saying things like, quote, this is a situation probably without precedent in modern world

history, when the central bank rate is 2.5 times higher than inflation, and it still doesn't slow down.

Obviously, continued economic problems make Putin's war in Ukraine harder. The next thing is that a top German

intelligence official stated that NATO's patience with Russia's hybrid war and sabotage campaign

is wearing thin. He said, quote, the extensive use of hybrid measures by Russia increases

the risks that NATO will eventually consider

invoking its Article 5 mutual defense clause. At the same time, the increasing ramp-up of the

Russian military potential means a direct military confrontation with NATO becomes one possible option for the Kremlin.

Invoking Article 5 could bring the entirety of NATO down on Russia. It's a stern warning for Putin to

consider. The final bit is that a former Ukrainian foreign minister does not believe Trump has any chance

of securing a peace between Russia and Ukraine. And this isn't the normal thing where a foreign

policy person thinks Trump is inept. This seems to be entirely about Putin's state of mind.

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