In the view of Russia's opposition – what is left of it – the fact that Mr Putin is lashing out does indeed show his weakness. Not only have the sanctions have proved far harsher than the Kremlin gambled on, they have hit particularly hard in an economy already stagnant from 15 years of command-cronyism. As Vladimir Ryzhkov, a leading opposition politician, put it last week: "The country needs surgery, and he proposed therapy." However, snappy sound bites from Moscow's liberal minority cannot disguise the fact that despite dragging the country to both war and recession – the Kremlin admitted last week that Russia's economy will shrink next year – Mr Putin remains phenomenally popular.