>>/51647/
True, Russia really needs to focus more on it's soft power(though it's too late now), so does China. China in particular has the potential to become the largest soft power in the world if it was not for their government and their rhetoric. Imagine if they had a similar government to Japan? They would be like Japan only with a population 10 times as large and a country much larger and that is resource rich. They would dominate in the entertainment sphere and having a western style government would get rid of much of the excuses that the west could use to justify seeing her as an adversary. 

 >>/51648/
I guess his response to the Avdiivka situation will show what kind of leader he is. It looks like the situation there is even worse than Bahkmut, though I don't know if there are as many people fighting there as in Bahkmut.
There was talk that Ukraine was going to pull out but if they stay it will display what kind of commander Syrskyi is.