Is Putin's "nuclear" sabre rattling now poised to become a reality?

In my previous post (18 January 2023) I wrote that,

"Disturbingly, as reported by Luke Whelan (left),

"Vladimir Putin could launch nuclear weapons in a bid to "take as many people as possible with him" as a result of his fading health, according to a Russian telegram group called General SVR who claim to have spoken to Kremlin insiders. The Russian despot is reportedly isolated and "withdrawn" as he suffers the side effects of drug treatment for a serious illness." (Express : 17 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Is Putin staring into the abyss of declaring war against NATO?" (blog post : 18 January 2023)

As reported by Andrew Osborn,

"President Vladimir Putin [speaking to workers at a factory in St Petersburg] said on Wednesday that Russia's powerful military-industrial complex was ramping up production and was one of the main reasons why his country would prevail in Ukraine.
...
"Victory is assured, I have no doubt about it." (Reuters : 18 January 3023) (my emphasis)

Putin's "Victory is assured" was soon followed by his glove-puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, declaring that,

""It never occurs to any of the lowlifes to draw an elementary conclusion from this: The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war can trigger a nuclear war," former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a top Putin ally who now serves as deputy chairman of the Security Council, said in a post on Telegram." (MSN (CBS News) : 19 January 2023) (my emphasis)

What is even more disconcerting, as reported by CBS News, is the fact that,

"Striking an eerily similar note [to Medvedev], the head of the Russian Orthodox Church professed in a Thursday sermon that "an attempt to destroy Russia would mean the end of the world."

"Today there are very big threats to the world, to our country, and to the whole human race, because some crazy people had the idea that the great Russian power, possessing powerful weapons, inhabited by very strong people… who have always come out victorious, that they can be defeated," said Patriarch Kirill, a staunch backer of all Kremlin policy." (ibid MSN (CBS News)

 DW News : 16 May 2022 : YouTube

That Putin is claiming that "Victory is assured", together with Medvedev and Kirill threatening the unleashing of a nuclear war against Ukraine, comes against the backdrop of,

" ...Weeks before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western officials agreed to send a flurry of offensive armored vehicles to Ukraine’s battlefields that they previously refused to deliver for fear of provoking Russia — heralding a new phase of international support for Kyiv." (Joe Gould : Yahoo News : 18 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Arirang News : Youtube : 20 January 2023

What is even more disconcerting for Putin, as reported by the New Voice of Ukraine, Hossein Amir Abdollahian (left), current Foreign Minister of Iran, stated that,

“We recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity within the framework of international law, and for this reason, despite excellent relations between Tehran and Moscow, we have not recognized the separation of Crimea from Ukraine,” he said.

“We have not recognized the separation of Luhansk and Donetsk from Ukraine because we insist on our consistent principle in foreign policy.” (Yahoo News ( New Voice of Ukraine) : 19 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Furthermore,

"Earlier Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (right), who is thought to be one of the staunchest allies of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, said that Crimea and Donbas are Ukrainian territories and denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine." (ibid New Voice of Ukraine)

Since the beginning of Putin's current war with Ukraine his "nuclear" sabre rattling has never ceased.

Now, staring his mortality in the face as his health continues to fade, his "nuclear" sabre rattling is poised to become a reality.

  (to be continued)