Russian demographics are hard to figure out - supposedly around 140 million people, give or take 5 million. They certainly act like they are doing poorly given how hard they are trying to bring in manpower from outside of Russia (North Koreans, Indians, Chinese, Africans, etc.). Supposedly the Moscow metro area has around 20 million people. Certainly feasible given the size.
If Ukraine continues to hit anything and everything that keeps Moscow going, whether it’s refineries or pipelines or pumping stations, as we head into the winter, well the talking heads on state TV are pumping out one narrative about how the war is going, but if people can’t get gas for their cars, can’t run their heaters, that is one helluva counter-narrative to what the government is saying.
I don’t think we’ve ever seen a modern top-15 metro area lose their fuel supply, whether it’s for cars or for heating homes. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but that seems like the kind of stuff that gets people riled up.