The noose is now more rapidly tightening around Putin's neck.

On the horizon autumn is beginning to raise its head as,

 "Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said two drones were shot down in the area of the Moscow Oil Refinery. No casualties were reported, but the second downed drone damaged a technical building at the refinery and caused a fire, which the mayor said had been localized and did not affect the plant’s operation.

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the size of the Ukrainian attack, but downplayed its effectiveness, saying Sunday that 158 Ukrainian UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) “were destroyed and intercepted by on-duty air defense” overnight in 15 regions, including over the capital." (Brad Lendon (left): CNN on Microsoft Start: 2 September 2024) (my emphasis)

Kanal 13: 1 September 2024: YouTube

And as also reported by Laura Kayali (left),

"Ukraine's drone offensive comes after a week of massive missile and drone attacks from Russia, which led to the loss of one of Ukraine's U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets.
...
On Friday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, presented top U.S. officials with potential targets in Russia during a trip in Washington, on the heels of Kyiv's surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region in August." (Politico: 1 September 2024) (my  emphasis)

It therefore comes as no surprise that Sergey Lavrov (right), that 'dyed-in-the-wool' Soviet Foreign  Minister of Putin, is scraping the bottom of the political Soviet rhetoric to try to exonerate Putin from his war in Ukraine, besides his 'weird' pronouncements to the people of Russia on Russian TV (RT)  about the war in the Middle East.

One India: 2 September 2014:

 Yet just a few days ago, as reported by Kate Nicholson (left),

"Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister has claimed Russia was “ready” for peace talks before Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sergei Lavrov said the chances of negotiating a deal with Ukraine had been “ruined and sabotaged” when Kyiv turned the tables on Moscow three weeks ago and breached Russian borders.
...
“Our readiness for talks was beyond anyone’s doubt, although, of course, after the reckless move in the Kursk region, any discussion of this subject is no longer relevant.” (Huffington Post: 30 August 2024) (my emphasis)

Lavrov's  'scraping the bottom of  the Russian political barrel' merely reflects what is happening to Putin's sanity as scrambled thoughts  tumble around his turmoiled 'political' mind in his over-protected nuclear bunker.

It is no wonder that, as reported by RFERL,

"Some do it for the money; others for the motherland. Still others because they “just don’t have anything else to do.”

Whatever their motivation, an unknown number of Siberia’s homeless have signed contracts to fight in Ukraine, just as Moscow, seeking to avoid another politically fraught mobilization, struggles to meet its manpower needs, which have now been boosted by a three-week-long Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region.
...
.. sources tell RFE/RL’s Siberia.Realities, officials have been actively seeking new soldiers in homeless shelters across Siberia and the Far East." (RFERL: 2 September 2024) (my emphasis)

Now that the Russian people are beginning to experience missiles raining down upon them, just as Putin in raining missiles down upon innocent Ukrainians, Putin is, indeed, at his most dangerous as the noose is now more rapidly tightening around his neck.

UPDATE: 4 September 2024

 In 2014, after invading and annexing Ukraine's Crimea, historian Alexander Motyl penned the following about Putin as the West watched on,

"Now six days ago, (25th July 2014) Alexander J. Motyl (left) posed the following 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." (CNN : 25 July 2014) (my emphasis)

Fast forward to 2024 and, as he Telegraph reports,

"At least 51 people died when two Russian ballistic missiles hit a military academy in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said a military building had been “partially destroyed”, leaving people “under the rubble”.

The attack was one of the deadliest since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb 2022. Filip Pronin, Poltava’s regional governor, said on Monday afternoon that more than 200 people injured and the death toll could still rise." (The Telegraph: 4 September 2024) (my emphasis)

And whilst Putin was raining death upon hundreds of Ukrainian men, women, and children, Elena Giordano informs us that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Russian students about the dangers of vaping on Monday, saying that electronic cigarettes harm reproductive function and can lead to infertility.
...
The Russian leader was holding an open lesson entitled "Conversation about important things” at the school in Russia's southern Siberian Republic of Tyva, which opened its doors for the first time on Monday." (Politico: 2 Sepember2024) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, as reported by Newsweek, Putin stated that,

"I am sure that this provocation will fail as well. It seems to me there will be a desire to really, not in words but in deeds, move on to peace negotiations and resolve these issues by peaceful means. We have never given up on this, but we must, of course, deal with these bandits who have entered the territory of the Russian Federation," Putin said.

Putin's recent comments on negotiations sharply contrast with his initial response to Ukraine's invasion of the Kursk region. (Newsweek: 2 September 2024) (my emphasis)

Let us be reminde of the words of Alexander Motyl in 2014 viz.

"Is Putin evil? His actions certainly are, if by evil we understand behavior that willfully, consciously and purposely destroys human life."

 

 

 

(to be continued)