Threats of 'nuclear' war is all that Putin now has against Ukraine.

The dust having setlled on the "sham" presidential elections in Russia, and Putin's 'organised' celebrations of his re-crowning as the Czar of Russia now but a distant memory in the minds of those who were 'encouraged' to attend those celebrations, let us remind ourselves what Putin  promised in his war with Ukraine.

As reported by the News Agency of Nigeria,

"After the win, Putin told reporters that Russia must make its army stronger.
...
 After the win, Putin told reporters that Russia must make its army stronger and that the ‘noon against Putin’ protests had no effect.

The Russian president added that he would do everything he could to solve the tasks of what he termed Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. (Pulse : 18 March 2024) (my emphasis)

BBC News : 19 March 2024 : Youtube

As Putin exhorts in his victory statement to the crowd in Moscow in the video above,

"... So together we will go forward and see it's actions not words is what makes us really stronger ..." (my emphasis)

And true to his word, as reported by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy (left),

"Russia launched the largest wave of missiles and Iranian-supplied drones against Ukrainian cities since the start of the war two years ago, the White House said Friday.
...
"Mr. Putin is not waiting,'' Kirby said. ''He's not sitting on his hands. He's making lethal use of every single minute available to him. While our own Congress refuses to act, he's not wavering." (USA Today : 22 March 2024) (my emphasis)

USA Today on Microsoft Start : 22 March 2024

However, as reported by Yuliia Dysa and Marek Strzelecki,

"Ukraine's energy grid is receiving urgent assistance from Poland, Romania and Slovakia after a wave of Russian air strikes that damaged energy facilities and left more than 1 million people without power, national grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Polish transmission grid operator PSE is helping its Ukrainian counterpart by supplying 300 megawatts (MW) of power between 0600GMT and 1100GMT, PSE said on Friday." (Reuters : 22 March 2024) (my emphasis)

Added to which, Pavel Polityuk (right) reports that,

"Ukraine hopes to sign a deal in June to buy two nuclear reactors from Bulgaria as it seeks to compensate for the loss of its vast Russian-occupied six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant, the head of nuclear firm Energoatom told Reuters.
...
"I [Petro Kotin, the head of nuclear firm Energoatom] set (the) task before our construction organisation and Khmelnytskyi station to have it ready to be installed by June," he said, referring to the first of the two reactors which would be ready for installation straight away." (Reuters : 22 March 2024) (my emphasis)

Ukraine's energy grid is withstanding Putin's near manic bombardment against it.

Underscoring Putin ramping up his war against Ukraine, Al Jazeera reports that,

“We are in a state of war. Yes, it started out as a special military operation, but as soon as this group was formed, when the collective West became a participant in this on the side of Ukraine, it became a war for us,” Kremlin spokesperson Dimitry Peskov (left) told Arguments and Facts, a weekly newspaper based in the country." (Al Jazeera : 22 March 2024) (my emphasis)

 

Putin has now placed the Russian economy onto a FULL 'war footing'!

As reported by Darya Korsunskaya, Alexander Marrow and Mark Trevelyan,

"The cost of the war is straining the state budget, where a third of spending is now going on defence, and has forced the government to drain almost 6.5 trillion roubles in the past two years from its rainy-day savings pot, the National Welfare Fund." (Reuters : 14 March 2024) (my emphasis)

Addded to which, Alessandra Scotto di Santolo (left) reports that,

"The EU is poised to grant Ukraine access to a substantial financial reserve worth £235 billion. This war chest, comprised of frozen Russian sovereign assets, is set to be made available to Ukraine as early as July, pending the enactment of new legislation by the bloc." (Express : 19 March 2024) (my emphasis)

This access by Ukraine's President Zelensky of Putin's £235 billion reserves is no doubt making him apoplectic with rage.

And, as Kateryna Hodunova (right) reports,

"Berlin has pledged 300 million euros ($325 million) to a Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, Bloomberg reported on March 21, citing people familiar with the decision.

Czech President Petr Pavel said in February at the Munich Conference that Prague had found 500,000 155 mm shells and 300,000 122 mm shells outside Europe that could be sent to Ukraine within weeks if the necessary funds were allocated to the initiative." (Bloomberg : 22 March 2024) (my emphasis)

Which really raises the question : "Is Putin's accellerated onslaught against Ukraine an expression of his desperation to cling onto power?"

As Charlie Bradley (left) reports,

"Vladimir Putin is "desperately clinging on to power" as he does not trust his successor if he leaves, it has been claimed.

The war in Ukraine has seen thousands of Russian troops killed and the country's economy threatened by Western sanctions.
...
Russia expert Mark Galeotti says Putin's current situation shares similarities with the final stages of the Soviet Union before its collapse in the early 1990s." (Express : 22 March 2024) (my emphasis) 

Times Radio : 22 March 2024 : YouTube

Putin knows that his days are numbered as Russian paramilitary groups crossed into Russia and are now fighting government troops there.

As reported by Jaroslav Lukiv,

"Three Ukraine-based Russian paramilitary groups say they have crossed into Russia and are now fighting government troops there.

The Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL) and Siberian Battalion (SB) posted videos purportedly showing their fighters in Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions.

The FRL and an exiled Russian politician claimed two villages were now in control of "liberation forces"." (BBC News : 12 March 2024) (my emphasis)

As Putin is ramping up his bombardment of Ukraine, so are Ukraines' allies ramping up their support of Zelensky and the army of Ukraine.

Putin and his 'siloviki' have nowehere else to go except to continue to threaten a 'nuclear catastrophe' against the world.

 

(to be continued)