Ukraine War May Be 'Nail in the Coffin' for Putin's Empire: Economist 

The war in Ukraine could be the "nail in the coffin" for Russian President Vladimir Putin's "empire," a Moscow-born economist and professor at Indiana University said in a recent interview.

Speaking to Jason Jay Smart of the Kyiv Post in a video discussion, Dr. Michael Alexeev called the war "monstrous" and "a mistake for everybody involved." He also said that while the war might end up having positive effects for Ukraine "in the long run," Russia could stand to lose much of its global power.

"The only positive thing that I can think of in terms of this war is that maybe it will finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea of Russian Empire," Alexeev said. "Maybe finally, it will become a normal country."

Alexeev said a paper published 20-plus years ago called Russia a normal, middle-income country. He took issue with that characterization.

"Unfortunately, it was wrong," he said. "It [Russia] is not a normal country. It still has its imperial view, and it's bad for everybody, including Russia. So I hope that the result of this terrible war will be that maybe Russia will become eventually a normal country."

The United Nations recently estimated nearly 18,000 civilian casualties in Ukraine as a result of the war, while Ukraine defense officials reported last week that more than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed.

For now, peace seems unlikely. A spokesperson for the Kremlin on Wednesday said negotiations for an end to the war cannot proceed unless Ukraine agrees to Russia's recent annexation of four Ukrainian territories, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he strongly opposes.

When Smart asked Alexeev if there was hope for Ukraine to build back after the war, he answered in the affirmative.

"Sure, I think actually...it might be in the long run a good thing for Ukraine in the long run, because this war actually has strengthened the national identity of Ukraine," he said. "There were people who had some sympathy for Russia, for Putin and all that—no more, as far as I understand.

"Yes, it's huge amount of distraction, but I am sure that the West is going to help a lot with the construction, rebuilding. Just look at Germany and look at Japan. The countries were destroyed completely in World War II. Now they are some of the most developed, richest countries in the world. And I hope the same thing is going to happen with Ukraine."

Alexeev said he grew up in Moscow and went to college there before moving to the United States to further his education at Duke University. While his expertise mostly concerns the economies of Russia and the former Soviet Union, Alexeev emphasized that he doesn't harbor Soviet sympathies. His parents were born in Ukraine, and his mother, Ludmila Alexeeva, was a prominent Soviet dissident who co-founded the Moscow Helsinki Group, a well-known human rights organization.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.