this is getting worrisome. Putin still has trump cards gas and oil. and nuclear sadly.
Ukraine scored a stunning victory in the Kharkiv region over the weekend. Routed Russian forces ditched valuable weapons and tons of badly needed munitions and supplies in a chaotic rush to safety.
This signals a new stage in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s disastrous war. The Ukrainian army is better armed, better led and more committed to the war than its Russian opponents, and morale among Ukraine’s defenders will now be higher than ever.
The question is what Putin does next. If he can stabilise the military front until winter sets in, he has several months to prepare for the northern spring. He might use that time to organise a general mobilisation, building a much larger conscript army for another year of conventional combat. But if the front doesn’t stabilise, or if he feels that public resistance to a general mobilisation could endanger the stability of the regime, he might look to more drastic options, such as the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Ukraine scored a stunning victory in the Kharkiv region over the weekend. Routed Russian forces ditched valuable weapons and tons of badly needed munitions and supplies in a chaotic rush to safety.
This signals a new stage in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s disastrous war. The Ukrainian army is better armed, better led and more committed to the war than its Russian opponents, and morale among Ukraine’s defenders will now be higher than ever.
The question is what Putin does next. If he can stabilise the military front until winter sets in, he has several months to prepare for the northern spring. He might use that time to organise a general mobilisation, building a much larger conscript army for another year of conventional combat. But if the front doesn’t stabilise, or if he feels that public resistance to a general mobilisation could endanger the stability of the regime, he might look to more drastic options, such as the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
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