Putin's anger will know no bounds if he fails in his battle for the Donbas.

In my blog post of Sunday, 9 November 2014, I wrote that,

"On July 25, 2014, rather presciently,  Alexander Motyl  (left) posed the question,

"Is Putin evil? His actions certainly are, if by evil we understand behavior that willfully, consciously and purposely destroys human life. Perhaps we can call his actions undeniably evil and Putin himself "evil enough." Evil enough for what? Evil enough for condemnation by people of good will." 

He further stated that,

"Ultimately, France and Germany, as well as all countries that aid and abet Russia's destructive capabilities, have to decide whether they care more about values or about money. Dictatorships can answer that question easily: Their leaders [like Putin] are indifferent to values." (Alexander Motyl : CNN : 25 July 2014) (my emphasis)

The alarm bells that were ringing shortly after Putin illegally invaded annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, and subsequently sent his Russian soldiers into the Donbas, fell on deaf ears in France and Germany, and who continued to suck at the teats of Putin's Russian 'cash cow'. 

CNN : 25 July 2014

Today, in full public display, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is now anxiously wringing his hands in horror as he confronts the call of Ukraine's President, Volodomyr Zelensky, for Germany to relinquish the oil and gas hold that Putin now has over the German economy.

But, true to form, Olaf Scholtz cares more about ensuring that the German people will not have to pay an economic price for having had their standard of living grow, since 2014, partly on the back of  German business men marching across Ukraine into the warm economic embrace  of Putin's 'Golden Eldorado'.

As James Lee (right) reports,

"A furious row has erupted over a "defenceless" Ukraine as Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces demands he sends in tanks, saying "Germany is to blame" for its late response.
...
Speaking in an interview with German media, Mr Wadephul accused the German government of deceiving the public by promising further financial military aid.

He said: “Ukraine has not lacked money - also not due to the EU funds."

“The increase in funding is therefore just a nasty diversionary tactic.” (Express : 19 April 2022) (my emphasis)

As he further points out,

"However, with Germany still failing to assure Ukraine of heavy weapons, and France embroiled in an internal election, focus appeared to have shifted away from Ukraine.
...

President Emmanuel Macron, once the favoured broker-diplomat between Moscow and the West has stated talks broke down over the discovery of war crimes in the town of Bucha, committed by Russian soldiers.
...
European nations have called for more sanctions, yet, France for example, unlike the US, has stopped short of accusing Vladimir Putin of war crimes. (ibid James Lee)

And now, as reported by Mark Trevelyan,

"In a show of strength two months into its assault on Ukraine, Russia test-launched a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile which President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday would make Moscow's enemies stop and think.
...

"This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia's security from external threats and provide food for thought for those who, in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country." 

Russia's nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new missile "in the autumn of this year" once testing is complete, Tass quoted Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, as saying on Wednesday. (Reuters : 20 April 2022) (my emphasis) (video below : Global News : YouTube : 20 April 2022)

This boastful threat of Putin seems to ignore the fact that whatever may cause him to unleash this Sarmat missile that he has been waiting for will also lead to the unleashing of nuclear missiles against Russia; the setting off of the MAD doctrine of military strategy.

What this boastful threat of Putin does tell us is that he fears his Donbas strategy may not lead to the success that he anticipates, especially in light of the continued supply of sophisticated offensive weaponry to the Ukrainian army from the US and UK in particular.

As reported by Brendan Cole (left),

"Russia has an approaching deadline that will add urgency to its campaign in Ukraine over the coming three weeks, the British defense ministry said.
...
In its daily intelligence update on the Russian invasion, U.K. defense officials said that Moscow wants big military gains before its annual commemoration of the end of World War II on May 9." (MSN (Newsweek) : 21 April 2022) (my emphasis)

And herein lies the danger.

Putin's anger will know no bounds if he fails in his battle for the Donbas.

(to be continued)