With no end to Russia's war against Ukraine in sight,
I asked "Full Frontal" favorite Russia 'spert, Masha Gessen,
for their take on where this all goes.
SAMANTHA BEE: Over three months have passed
since Russian dictator and object
of conservative jerk-off fantasies
Vladimir Putin launched his murderous invasion
of democratic Ukraine.
Thousands of civilians have died and millions are now refugees.
To help make sense of this senseless tragedy,
I turn to Masha Gessen, Russian dissident
and author, longtime friend of the show, and eternal optimist.
Oh, my biggest worry is a nuclear holocaust.
SAMANTHA BEE: OK, but in the midst
of all the current misery, we took a moment to celebrate
an important milestone.
This is your fifth appearance on "Full Frontal."
Woo-hoo!
Graphics, graphics, graphics.
Confetti cannons.
Music stings.
Graphics, graphics, graphics.
[HORN] There we go, OK.
SAMANTHA BEE: Then, after a brief pause
for the traditional presentation of the commemorative blazer--
It fits perfect.
SAMANTHA BEE: --we set about our favorite pastime,
doom chatting.
All right, let's get into it.
How do you see this ending, if you were predicting
and you're so good at predicting?
This is your--
we'll lead up to my regular nuclear holocaust prediction.
Listen, this is-- we've been talking
about the nuclear holocaust--
--from the first time we met.
It's like our song.
[ELECTRONIC BEAT]
Oh my biggest worry is a nuclear holocaust.
Oh, god.
[ELECTRONIC BEAT]
Nuclear holocaust.
I feel like we're staring into an abyss.
[RECORD SLOWS]
Does Putin still have the support of everyday Russians?
I mean, it's a tricky thing to talk about
in a totalitarian society.
Right.
And it's not just that people are afraid of repression.
It's that they're afraid of just the unbearable feeling
of disagreeing with that enormous force.
OK.
What is the state of Russian television right now?
Do they ever show "Full Frontal?"
I mean, I don't care.
It's fine.
They don't have to.
But just do they ever?
No.
OK, great.
You turn on the TV and it's all war all the time.
Like on the main Russian state channel
is a bunch of middle aged men talking about turning
the world to dust.
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
OK.
They love this Putin code that they repeat
almost on every show, which is in 2018,
Putin was talking about the possibility
of a nuclear strike.
And he was asked, but it will destroy the world?
And he was like, yeah, but--
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
--we will go straight to heaven and they'll just croak.
Is the West doing the right thing in Ukraine?
It's doing some of the right things.
But it should have started with what is the actual lifeblood
of the regime, which is oil.
SAMANTHA BEE: To cripple Russia's war machine,
says Masha, European countries have
to move faster to wean themselves
from Putin's oil teats.
It is hard to live without Russian oil and gas.
It's definitely not as hard as dying.
Definitely not.
SAMANTHA BEE: But what about these sanctions
we keep hearing about?
Couldn't they cause a popular uprising?
There's no credible scenario for mass protests in Russia
that topple the regime.
There's really not even a credible scenario
for a palace coup in Russia.
SAMANTHA BEE: Unfortunately, the best bet to best
Putin might be basic biology.
[BEEP]
What if Putin dies?
Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Ugh, why can't he be one of those
guys who wants to take like a penis-shaped rocket into space?
I just don't want him to do the coming back part.
Well, I don't actually think that Russia
can survive Putin's death.
What I really hope for is that like we will see
a total breakup of the empire.
Mm.
And, you know, we'll say state of Muscovy
and the state of St. Petersburg.
Which one of those might take Tucker Carlson?
I think we might be stuck with him.
No.
SAMANTHA BEE: Meanwhile, people are dying in Ukraine
and nearly four million Russians have fled their own country.
In a recent article, Masha described
the stunned expression shared by those refugees
with a Russian saying.
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
Hit in the face with a dusty sack.
Hit on the head with a dusty sack.
Isn't that a great expression?
It is a really great expression.
I wonder if you could translate a few of these expressions
into Russian for us, "Thumped in the poutine
with a hockey puck."
I think I will go again with the [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
Smacked in the snatch with a bag of jacks?
[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
Whacked in the jablankies with a custard spoon.
All of these representative of our current state of mind.
Yes.
So is all hope lost?
First of all, I think that hope is a moral imperative.
OK.
I mean, things are horrible.
Yes
And it is entirely possible that it will
end in a nuclear holocaust.
If that doesn't happen, this is definitely the last chapter
of the Putin regime.
I'm not saying it's going to end tomorrow.
But whatever happens next is going
to be completely different.
And that gives me a little bit of hope.
So it's either--
[POP MUSIC]
--or something completely different?
Right.
And that feels like hope right now.
We take what we can get.
We'll be right back.
[MUSIC PLAYING]