To regain his popularity in Russia, will Putin light the touchpaper of all-out war with Ukraine?

In the first two years of the 'Manchurian-Candidate' Trump presidency, Putin strutted the world stage as he flexed his 'nuclear' muscles and escalated his war with Ukraine, as evidenced by his Kerch strait attack on Ukrainian ships, the buildup of his nuclear weaponry in Ukraine's Crimea, and the further consolidation of his forces along Ukraine's border.

Now that the Democratic Party is within a few hours short of taking full control of the US House of Congress, and with it full oversight over Trump's actions, Putin realizes that his 'Manchurian' hold over Trump is now counter-balanced by the incoming Democratic oversight over his 'Manchurian' Trump.

So, as reported by Jamie Dettmer (left),

"Ukrainian officials are warning that Russia may be about to escalate its conflict with Ukraine, including possibly launching a breakout offensive from Crimea.
....
“Russia continues to build up and prepare its military forces for possible offensive operations against Ukraine from the Crimean peninsula and the East,” the institute has reported. It says Russia could conduct such operations on short notice." (VOA: ! January, 2019) (my emphasis)

UNIAN similarly reports that,

"The Russian-led occupation forces continue massing heavy weapons in the area near the Russian occupied city of Luhansk in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, and conduct live-fire exercises, preparing for active hostilities." (UNIAN : 30 Dec., 2018) (my emphasis) (cf also: OSCE report 29 Dec., 2018)

And whilst Putin is gearing up his naval and armed forces for an invasion of Ukraine, Paul Carrell (left) reports that,

"U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline is no reason to stop the project and any attempt to do so would be difficult now that it is being built, [Germany's] European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.
...
Germany refuses to join opposition to the project from many EU states and - thus far - from the EU executive, describing it as a private enterprise." (Reuters : 28 December, 2018) (my emphasis)


The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman (left), is correct in stating that,

"... the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project a form of a disguised war against Europe and European consumers. “Nord Stream 2 is a form of disguised war against Europe. We know what it is to be dependent on Russia in energy. We know from our own experience how dangerous it is. Therefore, we are now considering the project as Russia's geopolitical weapon,” Groysman said, adding that Ukraine’s preservation of the status of a priority gas transit country is of great “significance in terms of security and politics" for all of Europe.” (UNIAN : 2nd January, 2019) (my emphasis)

One can now safely say that the Putinversteher Angela Merkel, together with the German business community is, and always has been, covering Putin's economic back, irrespective of Gazprom being a critical factor in Putin's war with Ukraine!

And whilst Putin continues to flex his Russian military and German political-economic muscles, ordinary Russia people are beginning to publicly express their growing dislike of his actions at home.

As reported by Echo msk., Putin's [2019] New Year address to the Russian people

 Дорогие россияне поставили президенту массу дизлайков в YouTube. На странице «России-1» новогоднее обращение получило около тысячи «лайков» и более 4 тысяч «дизлайков», то есть знаков одобрения и неодобрения соответственно.

У обращения на «Первом канале – 12 тысяч «лайков», а «дизлайков» — больше 66 тысяч. Это притом, что по декабрьским данным ВЦИОМа, деятельность президента одобряет почти 65% россиян, а количество «лайков» легко накрутить с помощью прокремлевских ботов.

" (Google Translate) ... have put a lot of dizlik on YouTube to the president. On the Russia-1 page, the New Year's appeal received about a thousand “likes” and more than 4 thousand “dislikes”, that is, signs of approval and disapproval, respectively.

The appeal on Channel One has 12 thousand likes, and the dislikes have more than 66 thousand. This is despite the fact that according to the December data of the VTsIOM, the president’s activities are approved by almost 65% of Russians, and the number of “likes” is easily crafted using pro-Kremlin bots." (Echo msk. : 1st January, 2019) (my emphasis) (cf also: Paul Goble: 1 January, 2019)

As the people of Russia continue to suffer the privations brought upon them by Putin placing his ego and the continued enrichment of his 'siloviki' clan above that of the daily deprivations that this has caused for the Russian people, what does 2019 have in store for the Russian people?

To regain his standing among the people of Russia, will he finally light the touchpaper of all-out war with Ukraine?

(to be continued)