Let us cast our minds back to 1962, when we had what has become known as the, "Cuban Missile Crisis", occured.
"The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (Spanish: Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (Russian: Карибский кризис, romanized: Karibskiy krizis), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American (left : Kennedy and Kruschev) deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The crisis lasted from 16 to 28 October 1962. The confrontation is widely considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear war." (Wikipedia) (my emphasis) (cf; also : Grace Thompson : BBC News : 22/09/2023)
" A group of Russian naval ships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, will visit Cuba next week as part of “historically friendly relations,” Cuba’s government said Thursday.
The Russian “frigate Gorshkov, the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, the fleet oil tanker Pashin, and the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker” will visit the port of Havana between June 12 and 17, according to the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces in a statement published by the Foreign Ministry.
WION : 8 June 2024 : YouTube
Cuba’s announcement comes days after US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to carry out limited strikes inside Russian territory with American munitions. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Western countries “supplying weapons to a conflict zone is always a bad thing.” (CNN : 6 June 2024) (my emphasis)
In the background of tremulously shaking his 'nuclear fist' at US President Biden for allowing US missiles to be used against Russia by Ukraine Putin is, as WION (cf above video) reports, Russian missiles will be 350 km away from US soil, threatening cities such as New York and Chicago from Cuba.
Meanwhile, Putin has to contend with the fact, as reported by Al Jazeera, that,
Speaking at a joint news conference at the Presidential Elysee Palace in Paris on Saturday, President Joe Biden warned that Vladimir Putin would “not stop” at Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron, in turn, hailed his US counterpart’s loyalty to Europe." (Al Jazeera : 8 June 2024) (my emphasis)
Whilst Putin tremulously shakes his 'nuclear fist' at US President Biden, and as reported by Mariya Knight and Niamh Kennedy,
"Russia accused Ukraine of shelling the Russian-occupied eastern territories of Kherson and Luhansk on Friday, leaving at least 25 dead.
...
Meanwhile, the Russian-appointed head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, said on Telegram a Ukrainian strike on Luhansk killed three people and wounded 35 others.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the strikes “cynical and [a] bloody crime” on Friday and blamed Washington for giving “the green light” to Kyiv “to kill civilians with Western weapons.” (CNN : 8 June 2024) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Microsoft Start)
"A new war video released by Ukraine appears to show a US-supplied M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle shooting at a Russian armored personnel carrier at point-blank range.
The two vehicles race toward each other at high speed on a country road and launch continuous fire. At one moment, they come within a few feet of one another, narrowly avoiding collision. Soldiers are seen falling from the Russian armored car before it swerves off the road and appears to come to a stop, smoke billowing from its rear." (Business Insider : 8 June 2024) (my emphasis)
"In May, Russian casualties in Ukraine reached a record high, with close to 40,000 soldiers lost in just 31 days of combat.
-This unprecedented loss has raised significant concerns about Moscow’s capacity to sustain such heavy casualties without achieving any substantial operational or strategic gains.
-Despite these sacrifices, Russia has failed to meet its primary objectives, with British Military Intelligence reporting over 1,200 Russian casualties per day in May alone, the highest since the war began." (National Interest on Microsoft Start : 8 June 2024) (my emphasis)
It is no wonder, as Alberto Nardelli, Alex Wickham, and Volodymyr Verbianyi report,
"The Kremlin has forced thousands of migrants and foreign students to fight alongside Russian troops in its war against Ukraine, adding extra manpower for its offensive in the Kharkiv region, according to assessments from European officials.
Using tactics first deployed by the Wagner mercenary group, Russian officials have with increasing frequency been threatening not to extend the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to join the military, according to officials familiar with the matter." (Bloomberg UK : 9 June 2024) (my emphasis)
More than anything, this indicates the fears of Putin, as does his attempt to recreate the Cuban Missile Crisis against US President Bide
The Kremlin vultures are also moving closer to Putin, getting the scent that his demise is near.
As Alice Scarsi (left) reports,
"Vladimir Putin has been tipped to be already testing his close circle to find a successor and secure his "tsarist-like legacy".
Following the landslide victory at the controversial presidential election held in Russia in March, Putin has secured his position until at least 2030.
...
Appearing on the BBC podcast Ukrainecast, [Dr. Hill] said: "As Putin moves into his tzarist phase, which he has been doing for quite some time, we also have to remember that the history of imperial Russia was replete with assassinations and mysterious deaths and all kinds of setbacks.
"And many of the tsars that Putin lauds were themselves kind of embroiled in all kinds of palace intrigues. And that's what we are looking at, all kinds of palace intrigues, efforts to perhaps test one successor after another, one heir after another, we don't know how this is all going to play out." Express : 8 June 2024) (my emphasis)
Is Putin readying himself to leave Russia with the legacy of attacking the US and NATO?
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