Russian President Vladimir Putin has made gains in recent days in reasserting control over several former Soviet nations, including Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus.

Putin’s most significant successes were, unsurprisingly, in Ukraine. Russia has been fighting a full-scale war there for more than 2½ years, aiming to conquer as much of the country as possible. For much of the last year, the war has been grueling and glacially paced, with the battle lines barely budging. But last week Russia captured the eastern Ukrainian towns of Selydove and Hirnyk. When the territory of these towns is added to other land seized in recent days, it comes out to more than 75 square miles. This means Russia is advancing in eastern Ukraine at its fastest pace in a year or more.

Russia has also brought thousands of North Korean troops into the war. Most are being deployed to Kursk, the region of western Russia now occupied by Ukraine. Sending the North Koreans there appears to have freed up Russian forces to focus more on eastern Ukraine, which likely factored into the accelerating advance now underway.

Putin also won a significant victory last week in the former Soviet nation of Georgia, though this was not a military conquest but a political one. One of Georgia’s major parties, Georgian Dream, is now essentially owned by Putin. Due to its shameless subordination to Moscow, Georgians sometimes call this party “Russian Dream,” and data shows that the overwhelming majority of them are staunchly against it. The Georgians wish instead to tie their nation’s future to a democratic and more prosperous West. But last week, Putin’s agents in Georgia managed to rig elections to give Georgian Dream a major victory.

The Georgian people are up in arms, protesting what was clearly a stolen election. But Putin’s grip on Georgia is now so tight that little is likely to come from these protests. Putin already seized two regions of Georgia in 2008, equating to one fifth of the nation’s territory. Thanks to his aggressive vote rigging, he is well positioned to put the rest of the nation under his control without firing a shot.

In the former Soviet nation of Moldova, the situation is somewhat similar to that of Georgia. Russia already controls a breakaway region of the country where Moscow runs a military base. And Putin has been working tirelessly in recent years to weaken Moldova’s pro-Western government. Last year, Putin spent some $55 million on local elections to bribe voters and illegally finance a pro-Russia party. “[A] large-scale operation has been uncovered, the purpose of which is to influence the electoral processes,” said Alexandru Musteata, chief of Moldova’s Information and Security Service.

Last month, Moldovan police found that Putin’s agents carried out an unprecedented vote-buying scheme, spending $15 million to buy pro-Russia votes. He is clearly doing all he can to bring the nation firmly into Russia’s orbit. The November 3 election didn’t go his way, thanks largely to the significant number of Moldovans voting abroad. Despite this setback, Putin’s illegal financing and other underhanded tactics are increasing his power over Moldova.

One former Soviet nation where Putin’s control may have appeared to weaken in recent days is Belarus. The country’s longtime dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, said on October 25: “Us joining Russia? Out of the question. It’s impossible and impractical. I’m sorry to say that would mean war.” These are big words from Lukashenko. But the truth is Belarus is already an unofficial Russian state, particularly since Lukashenko’s people resolutely voted him out years ago, and Putin is the only reason he was able to rig the count and remain in power. So Lukashenko is completely beholden to Putin, and if Putin decided that having Belarus an unofficial state was no longer enough, Lukashenko would have few options for resistance. Lukashenko likely understands that the status quo serves Russia well, and that Putin has little motivation to alter it. So these words were just bluster, aimed at boosting his prestige among his own people. They don’t change the fact that Belarus is already a Russian vassal.

The Trumpet keeps a close eye on Vladimir Putin and his efforts to reassert dominance over former Soviet states because of Bible prophecy. Ezekiel 38 describes an individual in the modern era called the “prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal” (verse 2; New King James Version). Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has written extensively about this man over the years and says “Rosh” in this passage should be read as a variation of the name Russia, while the other two names signify the Russian cities of Moscow, in the west, and Tobolsk toward Russia’s east.

In his booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia,’ Mr. Flurry says it’s clear to him that this is describing Vladimir Putin. He emphasizes the ruthlessness and evil of this ruler. And he explains that the way this is written, listing different names for various parts of Russia, shows that Putin would conquer more of the former Soviet territory. He writes:

The use of all three names shows that this is an individual ruler of all the peoples of Russia, from the west to the east. The reference to the cities of Moscow and Tobolsk helps us see how vast Russian territory is in these latter days.

This giant swath of land indicates the prince will probably conquer more nations of the former Soviet Union.

This booklet was written in 2017, well before Russia’s current full-scale invasion of Ukraine and before much of Russia’s gradual takeover of other Soviet nations had occurred. It is now clear that Putin is making steady gains over much of the former Soviet space. His increasing power guarantees that some dark days lie ahead for the people of Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and beyond. But Mr. Flurry makes clear that there is also great cause for hope and optimism in these developments. To understand, order your free copy of The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’