"Russian forces are facing setbacks in their invasion of Ukraine, US intelligence officials have said, stressing that President Vladimir Putin’s plan to install a puppet government in Kyiv is unlikely to succeed amid fierce Ukrainian resistance.
...
During a congressional hearing on Tuesday, the heads of United States intelligence agencies told lawmakers that despite the issues with the invasion, Putin is likely to escalate the conflict in the coming weeks." (AlJazeera : 8 March 2022) (my emphasis)
This assesment comes on top of US President Biden's announcement that the US if placing a FULL embargo on Putin's oil exports to the US.
As reported by the BBC News,
"The US and UK are banning Russian oil and the EU is ending its reliance on Russian gas, stepping up the economic response to the invasion of Ukraine.
...
US President Joe Biden said the move targeted "the main artery of Russia's economy".
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Energy exports are a vital source of revenue for Russia but the move is also likely to impact Western consumers." (BBC News : 9 March 2022) (my emphasis)
"As countries scramble to reduce their reliance on Russia's oil and gas in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, few places are as exposed as the European Union.
...
But moving with a speed few thought possible, the EU has now laid out a strategy that could cut reliance on this fuel source by two thirds within a year.
The REPowerEU plan aims to make Europe independent of Russian fossil fuels by 2030, but the initial efforts focus solely on gas.
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"It's hard, bloody hard," said EU Commission vice president Frans Timmermans.
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"But it's possible if we're willing to go further and faster than we've done before."
.,.
The plan envisages ending reliance on all Russian fossil fuels "well before" 2030." (BBC News : 8 March 2022) (my emphasis)
Putin is now angry .... very angry ....
As William Burns, former director of the CIA, reported to the US Senate yesterday (8 March 2022),
"I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now ... He is likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties. But the challenge that he faces now [ ...] ... He has no sustainable political endgame ..."(MSNBC : March 9 2022) (my emphasis)
Putin is now in control of the Chernobyl nuclear site, and of the functioning nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia.
As reported by Mehdi Hasan,
"There have been many questions raised about Russia's strategy in this war. But one thing that has become clear is that Moscow is paying particular interest to Ukraine's nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia" (MSNBC : 9 March 2022) (my emphasis)
As also reported by Lawrence O'Donnell,
"Even though he's talking about nuclear weapons in this way, his actions do not indicate any actual change",
to which Robin Wright, New Yorker columnist, responded,
"The big question, Lawrence, is whether this was an epic bluff [Putin threatening to use nuclear weapons], whether it reflected Russia's weakness rather than its strength. But the challenge for Putin now is he's not doing well in Ukraine, and if he's going to try and seize the country the danger is he's going to try things that are unconventional ... unexpected ... as his invasion was .." (MSNBC : 9 March 2022) (my emphasis)
Putin is now 'dangerously' angry ...
STOP PRESS @ 18.43 9 March 2022
"Western officials have said they are "very concerned" about the risk of escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
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They are particularly concerned about the possibility of Russia using non-conventional weapons, they say.
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This most likely refers to chemical weapons although the term also covers tactical (small-scale) nuclear weapons, biological weapons and dirty bombs.
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"We've got good reason to be concerned," said one Western official.
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Officials also pointed to some of the disinformation and claims coming from Russia as potentially "setting the scene" for some kind of "false flag" claim that the Ukrainians had used them - or developed weapons." (BBC News : 18.47 9 March 2020) (my emphasis)
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