Russians are looking forward to a "Khrushchev Thaw", after Vladimir Putin retires

I was listening to Russian radio yesterday evening, Radio Svoboda, Freedom Radio, their "Archive Project", which every weekday evening presents historical analyses related to society and world culture. I was surprised to hear that the entire hour was devoted Nikita Khrushchev, and, in particular his visit to America in 1957. Now, there are certain rulers in Russia's past that are quite regularly dealt with in the Russian media -- Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Stalin. These were the great "Iron Men" of Russian history, who ruled for a long time, and accomplished great things. Khrushchev was not one of these. He was only in charge for about eight years, and, he was ignominiously shuffled off to exile in Siberia, largely because of his nearly cataclysmically disastrous miscalculations during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In general, when he is portrayed at all in Russian films, it is as a crude buffoon and a clown, who has no idea how ridiculous he appears. However, in this particular radio program yesterday evening, he was portrayed rather positively, as a liberal reformer, who improved relations with the U.S., and made life easier and freer for the average Russian. Which, of course, in general, he certainly did. You see, it now appears virtually certain that Vladimir Putin will achieve his objectives in Ukraine. This latest rather large assistance package from the U.S. does not include any offensive weapons at all, it will not give the Ukrainian military any ability to actually retake even an inch of territory, and it is quite clear even President Zelensky does not anticipate any Ukrainian military offensives in future. Why is this, exactly? Well, you see, the fact is, the Ukrainians are out of manpower. The Russians have successfully exterminated the entire Ukrainian military force, although President Zelensky will never admit this, of course. This is notable in the ability of the Russians to now advance unopposed for miles at a time, there's simply no one around to fill the gaps in the Ukrainian front line of defense in their own country. So, the American and Ukrainian governments are claiming that all they need, now that the U.S. Congress has made available a large support package, is to conscript another 400,000 or so young Ukrainian men for the military. Unfortunately, there aren't any left in Ukraine itself, so, they were thinking that, perhaps, some 400,000 Ukrainian men of military age who have fled to Poland might like to lend a hand. How likely is this, exactly? I mean, they've already fled the fighting when people thought they had a pretty good chance of winning, why would they want to go back to face certain death against the Russians, now that they know that they're going to lose, anyway? That doesn't really make a lot of sense, does it? So, the Polish government is saying they are considering "deporting" them, back to Ukraine. The problem with this particular idea is, that these Ukrainian men might well prefer ending up in a Polish prison, to going back to face certain death against the Russians in Ukraine. Or, they might be very tempted indeed by the prospect of being on the winning side, and fighting for the Russians, instead. Or, if he's really clever, and he usually is, you know, Vladimir Putin might simply offer all those 400,000 Ukrainian men in Poland some nice, good paying factory work in Russia, to help with the Russian labor shortage. Lots of options, all, much, much better than fighting for Mr. Zelensky, you see. So, it appears fairly certain that Mr. Zelensky will not be getting his 400,000 conscripts. And, even he admits that without them, it won't be possible to "stabilize" the situation in Ukraine -- that is, prevent the Russians from totally overwhelming the country, at will. In other words, within a year or two, Ukraine will, once more, effectively be a province of Russia, virtually in its entirety, and will never, ever be joining NATO, which, actually is what this war was really all about. So, Russians are looking forward to a period of peace, prosperity and development for their nation, in possession of new resources and security from control of Ukraine, in its entirety. And, with Mr. Putin's retirement, in a few years, they may well have a "liberal leader" in place, who can ease international relations and tensions, and give them a freedom of speech perhaps even comparable to that of the U.S., for a time. Remember, it was under Nikita Khruschev that Alexander Solzhenitsyn -- who eventually wrote the Gulag Archipelago -- was released from prison, first became a writer, and, his first book, "Life with Marya", wasn't even censored by the Soviets, and had a good run at the bookstores. Khruschev even made something of a hit in his visit to the U.S., engaging in mock-aggressive debates with then Vice-President Richard Nixon about the comparative merits of communism and capitalism. So, while Americans are contemplating civil war on their University campuses and the possibility of an elected President having to run the country from a prison cell, the Russians are rather looking forward to a new Golden Age for Holy Mother Russia!