Has Putin decided to 'throw caution to the wind'?

In my last blog entry (2/9/2018) I wrote that,

"More significantly, as reported by UNIAN,

"Washington is ready to expand arms supplies to Ukraine in order to build up the country’s naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for militants in Donbas, according to the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker. (left)" (UNIAN : 01 September 2018) (my emphasis) 

Trump cannot come to Putin's rescue either on the implementation of possible new US sanctions against himself and his cronies, nor on the impending expansion of arms to Ukraine since Trump, himself, is fast beginning to loose favor with the American public."

Putin is now attempting a full blockade in the Sea of Azov to Ukrainian ships.

 

As Stephen Blank (right) reports, 

 

" ..... [ ] in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, Moscow is waging a simultaneous military and economic war against Kyiv. It has blockaded the Sea of Azov to Ukrainian ships, demands the right to inspect “foreign” vessels, and has extended a maritime exclusion zone all the way to Odesa, Ukraine." (Atlantic Council : September 7, 2018) (my emphasis)

 

Putin's attempt to blockade the Sea of Azov has, however, been met by Ukraine, which has,

 

" ... started deploying modern armoured artillery boats at the Azov region to counter Russian aggression in the south of Ukraine, the organization of coastal defense and protection of the Azov Sea coast... [I]t is expected that three small armoured artillery boats will be deployed to the Azov Sea, which today will be the most powerful units in this region." (Maritime Security News : 10 September, 2018) (my emphasis)

More ominously, however, as reported by Mark Hodge,

"Russia [is sending] ‘up to 1,000 tanks towards country’s border with Ukraine’ as tensions with the West continue to escalate

This comes amid rising tensions in Ukraine following the killing of pro-Russian separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko who died in a bomb attack at a café in Kiev." ( The Sun : 5 September, 2018) (my emphasis)

This movement of Putin's tanks towards the Ukrainian border coincides with the fact that yesterday,

"Russian-led forces mounted 25 attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas in the past 24 hours." (UNIAN : 10 September, 2018) (my emphasis)

Putin, it would seem, has decided to 'throw caution to the wind'.

One could argue that in part, this recklessness of Putin has been precipitated by his need to deflect the gaze of the Russian people away from what is fast becoming his 'ill-fated pension reform', as well as the recent acceleration of Trump towards the gallows of 'impeachment'

As Andrei Kolesnikov (right) writes,

"Putin’s recent fall in approval ratings has been steep. The main reason for the slump in ratings is the government’s proposal to increase the retirement age from 60 to 65 for men and from 55 to 60 for women.
...
Putin’s successful foreign policy agenda is starting to lose its power to command public support in the face of growing domestic frustrations.
...
Still, if Putin’s low approval ratings persist, the Kremlin will likely try to create some sort of spectacle to distract attention from Russia’s many social problems. It may want to double down on dramatic foreign policy gestures, but, as mentioned above, these have lost their potency." (Carnegie Moscow Center : 15 August, 2018) (my emphasis)

 And it is this 'doubling down on dramatic foreign policy issues' that is making Putin dangerously 'throw caution to the wind'.

It is no wonder that Petro Poroshenko (left), Ukraine's President, recently pronounced that,

"He said the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a strong army is the guarantee of peace.

"The stronger our army, the sooner peace will come. The stronger the international solidarity around Ukraine, the sooner peace will come.

The tougher sanctions against the aggressor country, the sooner peace will come," Poroshenko said." (UNIAN : 8 September,2018) (my emphasis)

(to be continued)