Another day, more transparent propaganda sprayed out by the regime media. This time, it is The Daily Telegraph, pushing the stale narrative that the Russian economy is on the verge of collapse. The article, citing a Finnish minister who is, conveniently, one of NATO’s most committed cheerleaders, claims that “Russia’s economy is cracking” and calls for yet more sanctions. We are expected to believe that, after two years of being told that Russia was on the brink, that Mr Putin’s days were numbered, and that the rouble would soon be as worthless as Weimar paper marks, now—finally!—the great Russian collapse is at hand.

This is nonsense. Russia has come through this war in better shape than its Western enemies. If we compare real economic indicators—industrial output, inflation, unemployment, currency stability—Russia’s performance is demonstrably superior to that of Britain, Germany, and much of the European Union. Here are some embarrassing facts. The International Monetary Fund has projected that Russia’s economy will grow by 3.6% this year, outpacing the United States (2.8%), Germany (0.0%), France (1.1%), and the United Kingdom (1.1%).

The rouble has stabilised. Russian industry has adapted to the new conditions. Most significantly, Russia has secured access to alternative markets and trading routes outside the Western stranglehold. Contrast that with Britain, where inflation remains stubbornly high and economic growth is non-existent, and where living standards are in freefall.

And yet the propaganda persists. The Western media has spent the past two years pumping out lie after lie, all designed to convince the public that total Russian collapse was imminent. Who can forget the endless claims that Mr Putin was on his deathbed with cancer, or that Russia was running out of missiles, or that it was days away from social unrest? The sheer volume of these falsehoods suggests not mere journalistic incompetence, but a deliberate campaign of misinformation, designed to pacify Western populations while their own ruling classes strip them of wealth and liberty.

Even more revealing is the level of censorship required to sustain these deceptions. Why, if Russia is losing and its economy is in shambles, do the Western ruling classes insist on banning access to Russia Today and other alternative sources of information? If the truth is so obvious, why must it be protected from scrutiny? The answer is clear: the official narrative does not hold up under the lightest examination. That is why censorship is necessary. That is why a VPN is now required to bypass the information blockade imposed by our supposedly ‘free’ governments.

The reality that the regime media refuses to acknowledge is that the war is all but over, and the Ukraine is in ruins, and the West has nothing to show for its immense output of money and weapons, and of diplomatic credibility. The question now is not whether Russia will collapse—because it will not: it has won—but whether the ruling classes of the West will be forced to answer for their failures. They have bankrupted their economies and turned their nations into international laughing stocks, all while lying brazenly to those they govern.

The time has come for a general reconsideration of Western foreign policy—of who makes it, and in whose interests. The people of Britain and Europe must ask themselves why they are being forced to suffer for the ambitions of a corrupt and delusional elite. More to the point, they must demand answers from those who have lied to them, who have censored the truth, in a failed effort to ruin a country that has emerged stronger than ever.

The war is over. Russia has won. The only real question is whether the Western ruling classes will be allowed to get away with what they have done.