Like a cornered rat, Putin and his generals are now lashing out.

Firstly, I would like to thank all my readers a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

The year 2017 has seen the dark and foreboding clouds of impeachment continuing to gather over the head of Donald Trump, as the collusion between Trump and Putin during the 2016 US presidential elections continues to emerge into the light of day.

As recently as November 9th, 2017, Putin was stating that,

"I have big suspicions that in response to our alleged interference in their elections, they want to create problems during the election of the president of Russia. " (Noah Friedman and Lamar Salter : Business Insider : Dec. 5, 2017) (my emphasis)

Indeed, as recently as Dec. 27, 2017, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (left) stated that,

" ..... criticism over opposition leader Alexei Navalny's blocked presidential bid, saying it amounted to "meddling in the Russian elections."

"This statement by the U.S. Department of State, which I'm sure will not be the only one, is a direct interference into the electoral process and the state's domestic affairs," Zakharova said in comments carried by state-owned TASS news agency." (USA Today : Dec. 27, 2017) ( my emphasis)

The feebleness of Putin's continuous 'mantra' that he did NOT collude with Trump during the 2016 US presidential elections, primarily to get those US sanctions against himself and his 'siloviki' off his back, and that was brought about by his invasion and annexation of Ukrainian Crimea in 2014, as well as his continuing war with Ukraine in the Donbas, continues to prey on his mind.

And whilst Putin continues to mouth his 'mantra' that him and his Kremlin 'siloviki' did not get Trump into the White House, Glenn R. Simpson and Peter Fritsch report that,

"The [US Senate and Congressional] intelligence committees  have known for months that credible allegations of collusion between the Trump camp and Russia were pouring in from independent sources [e.g Australia] during the campaign" (New York Times : Jan. 2, 2018) (my emphasis)

Let us recall that in my last blog entry (27/12/2017) I stated that,

"Putin's military build-up of tanks in the Donbas is a prelude to attack Mariupol, specifically to gain that land-bridge with Ukrainian Crimea that he so desperately needs to further consolidate his hold over Ukrainian Crimea."

Can it therefore be a co-incidence that just yesterday (2nd Jan., 2018),

"Ukrainian positions outside the village of Hnutove in the Mariupol sector came under fire from 82mm mortars, cannons of infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers, machine guns, and small arms. 

In addition, the enemy resorted to the entire range of infantry weapons to attack the defensive fortifications of the ATO forces around the village of Vodiane several times. In total, there were six attacks on the Ukrainian army in the past day." (UNIAN : 03 January 2018) (my emphasis)

Like Trump, who had no other option but to supply Ukraine with those deadly Javelin anti-tank missiles, and who now sees the noose of impeachment descending around his neck, Putin and his generals are now staring into the abyss of being militarily repulsed from gaining their much coveted landbridge into annexed Ukrainian Crimea.

And like a cornered rat, Putin and his generals are now lashing out.

(to be continued)