Vladimir Putin has backed himself into a corner in Ukraine. And true to form, the Russian leader is ready to escalate, perhaps up to the brink of nuclear war, rather than admit defeat.
Seven months after Putin launched his invasion, Russian troops have been driven back in the Kharkiv region, and Ukrainian forces are advancing in Luhansk and squeezing his troops and supply lines in Kherson.
It is not impossible that Russia could lose territories that it has held since 2014 if Putin’s forces cannot stop Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Facing humiliation, Putin has issued a new threat: holding “referenda” in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which could lead to them being annexed by Russia by early next week.
In the mind of Russia’s formalistic leader, that would turn the “special military operation” in Ukraine into a defensive war in Russia, opening up the possibility of a full mobilisation, declaration of war and even a nuclear strike.
Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the state-owned broadcaster RT and a vocal lobbyist for the war, said: “Judging by what is happening and what is about to happen, this week marks either the threshold of our imminent victory or the threshold of a nuclear war. I can’t see any third option.”
Is Vladimir Putin happy to risk nuclear war to avoid admitting defeat? (msn.com)