Having failed to achieve his initial objective of seizing Kyiv by mean of a coup de main in February, Vladimir Putin shifted Russia’s forces to eastern Ukraine, intending to incorporate the Donbas region, the Russo-phone Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.
- ...Illegality aside, what makes this development so dangerous is that by declaring these disputed borderlands as “Russian,” Putin can claim that Ukrainian military efforts there constitute offensive operations inside Russia, in response to which he has threatened escalation, including possible attacks on NATO members that are providing material aid to Ukraine.
- The danger is increased by a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that has forced Russian units in these regions to retreat...
...the influential Russian geopolitical theorist Aleksandr Dugin, has called for Putin’s removal from power and his replacement by a more ruthless leader, willing to finish the war with Ukraine by any means necessary.
And therein lies the danger.
How does a more desperate Putin, beset by enemies from all side, respond?
We know that all wars must end.
In this case, we just don’t know how it ends."
