For Putin, time is fast running out.

In my blog entry (3 April 2016) I wrote that,

"Meanwhile, one of Putin's closest allies in Africa, President Zuma of South Africa, who signed a controversial and secretive deal with Putin  for Russia's Rosatom to build nuclear reactors in South Africa, has been found guilty of breaking the South African constitution to embelish his private estate at Nkandla to the tune of £13 million stolen from state coffers. This theft elicited from him a public apology but, like Putin the 'kleptocrat', he simply ignored demands for his resignation. (cf. also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBucRobI4rM)" (blog entry : 3 April 2016)

Fast forward to 2023 and, as reported by Cecilia Macaulay & Pumza Fihlani (right),

"South Africa has defended its decision to hold a joint military exercise with Russia and China next month.

Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor condemned the "double-standard" which says some countries can perform such exercises but others are not.

"All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide," Dr Pandor added.

The comments came at a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Pretoria." (BBC News : 23 January 2023) (my emphasis)

What is rather disconcerting is that,

"Both parties described the other as a friend, with Naledi Pandor describing their talks as "wonderful" " (ibid Cecilia Macaulay & Pumza Fihlani) 

Africa News : 23 February 2023 : YouTube

Cecilia Macaulay & Pumza Fihlani further report that, unlike South Africa,

"Many African nations - including Nigeria and Kenya, the economic powerhouses of West and East Africa respectively - voted in favour of a UN general assembly resolution in March last year, condemning Russian "aggression" and demanding its withdrawal from Ukraine." (ibid Cecilia Macaulay & Pumza Fihlani)

What is rather interesting to note is that, as reported by Luke McGee (left),

" It is often said in diplomatic circles that Germany’s 21st century model for success has been built on three pillars: cheap Chinese labor, cheap Russian energy, and American guarantees of security.
...
One German official told CNN that it will be hard for mainstream (German) politicians to break free from old habits: “They have an inherent skepticism against siding overtly with the USA and a subtle hope that the relationship with Russia can be fixed.” (CNN : 21 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Thus the reluctance of Scholtz to give the green light to supplying Ukraine with Leopard tanks, whether from Germany or those EU countries which at 'biting at the chomp' to supply Ukraine with their Leopard tanks.

DW News : 23 January 2023 : YouTube

Both Germany's Scholtz and the South Africa Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor (right), seem to be somewhat beholden to Putin, feeling that they have a duty to Putin because of what Russia has done for them. 

Paul Withers : Express : 23 January 2023 ; "Germany 'terrified of upsetting Putin' "

In the case of Germany, all that cheap oil and gas, and the German preferred investment opportunities in Russia; and in the case of Naledi Pandor, the misguided belief that Putin, rather that the former USSR, helped the ANC in its struggle against 'apartheid'!

As Karl-Peter Schwarz (left) also writes,

"In a representative study, the Center for Monitoring, Analysis, and Strategy (CeMAS) concluded that approval ratings for pro-Russian conspiracy theories among the German population have increased overall over the course of the Ukraine war. In April 2022, 12 percent agreed with the statement that NATO had provoked Russia until Russia had to go to war. In October, 19 percent were already of this opinion, 16 percent of them in western Germany and 33 percent in eastern Germany. The opinion that Ukraine is part of Russia was shared by 12 percent in the west and 24 percent in the east." (Gis Report : 17 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Please note that  former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was raised in East Germany. (cf. Marcel Fürstenau : East Germany: A failed experiment in dictatorship : 10 July 2019)

Lavrov, that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet foreign minister, is now scrambling around Africa to curry support for Putin's war with Ukraine as Putin's Kremlin 'siloviki' begins to disintegrate.

As reported by John Varga,

"Vladimir Putin is facing a major revolt from his key Chechen and Wagner allies, after a row over facial hair escalated into open warfare. The Kremlin recently appointed the Russian Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, as the overall commander of Moscow's forces in Ukraine. The General replaced Sergey Surovikin, who had been in the post for just a mere three months." (Express : 24 January 2023) (my emphasis)

For Putin, time is fast running out.

In the words of Lavrov,

"Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, has said that Russia is "almost" in a conventional war with the West as the Kremlin fumes at the level of support for Ukraine." (Charlie Bradley : Express : 24 January 2023) (my emphasis)

(Charlie Bradley : Express : 24 January 2023)

(to be continued)

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)

Will Putin today declare war against NATO?

In Putin's war with Ukraine, things seem to ramping up to a new level.

Putin himself is set to make 'important announcement tomorrow' on Ukraine war.

As reported by Paul Withers (right),

"Vladimir Putin is preparing to make an "important" announcement on Wednesday (18 January 2023), a pro-Russian official has claimed, as the war in Ukraine reaches a critical point.
....
It would also come just days before Russia's war in Ukraine started exactly a year ago on February 24, 2022 claims official." (17 January 2023) (my emphasis)

At the same time as Putin is going to make this "important announcement",  Alarabiya News informs us that,

"Japan is engaged deeply on issues in Ukraine and is expected to roll out plans at the “appropriate time” to support Kyiv against Russia's invasion, White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said on Tuesday.

“Prime Minister Kishida (left) has a game plan and is already engaged deeply on issues in Ukraine,” Campbell told a Center for Strategic and International Studies event." (Alarabiya News (Reuters) : 18 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, as reported by Greg Heffer,

"James Cleverly [UK Foreign Secretary] has told Britain's allies 'this is the time' to bring the Ukraine war to an end as the Foreign Secretary urged other nations to 'intensify' their support for Kyiv." (Mail Online : 17 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Mail Online : 17 January 2023

German Chancellor Scholtz is also coming under increasing pressure to allow those EU countries which have German Leopard tanks to be allowed to send them to assist in Ukraine's war effort against Putin's invading army.

As James Randerson reports,

"A move by the German government to supply tanks to Ukraine is a “very, very, very, very needed decision,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday in Davos, arguing that German public opinion is now shifting toward supplying more military aid to Kyiv.
...

“The attitude in Germany is changing,” said [Lithuanian President] Nausėda (right), but he bemoaned the delay from Berlin in allowing the release of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine — which he called a “very strategic factor in this war.” (Politico : 17 January 2023) (my emphasis)

The urgent call of  the President of Ukraine, Volodomyr Zelensky, for more tanks from his western supporters comes as Christopher Sharp reports that,

"The Russian Federation has deployed intercontinental ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) to Tver Oblast region of Russia, close to its border with Belarus and within range of Ukraine. The move marks an increase in tension amid fierce fighting around the Soledar and Bakhmut in east Ukraine." (Express : 16 January 2023) (my emphasis) 

Furthermore, as I wrote in my previous blog entry (14 January 2023),

"As reported by Charlie Bradley (left),

"Russia's achieved an unwanted economic record in December as Moscow was forced to borrow £46billion in one month. This comes as the country continues to grapple with Western sanctions.
...

The Kremlin's finance minister Anton Siluanov (right) confirmed this deficit which equates to roughly 2.3 percent of Russian GDP (gross domestic product).
...
This also means that Russia's spending is more than 30 percent higher than had been forecast at the start of 2022." (Express : 11 January 2023) (my emphasis)

It is therefor no wonder that, as reported by Thibault Spirlet,

"Vladimir Putin's repeated threats of a nuclear war has raised concerns the elimination of all humanity could happen sooner than expected. Scientists are set to reveal the Doomdsay Clock next week in a highly-anticipated forecast as tensions between Russia and Ukraine could push the minute hand even closer to 12 o'clock." (Express : 17 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Disturbingly, as reported by Luke Whelan,

"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?

 

(to be continued)

2023 will be Putin's 'make-or-break' year in his war with Ukraine.

 In my last blog entry (9 January 2023) I wrote that,

"As we enter the new year, Putin and his generals are scrambling to confront the critically changing military support for Ukraine from the West"

This is best illustrated, as reported by Brad Dress (left), that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin harshly scolded one of his deputy prime ministers (Denis Manturov, the Russian minister of industry and trade) on Wednesday, accusing him of failing to keep up with orders for military equipment amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
...
“Long, too long,” Putin said, according to the meeting transcript. “Please, I ask you to expedite this work. The enterprises do not have contracts for 2023, you know, what can I say.” (The Hill : 13 January 2023) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Luan Trimi :MSN (Oh! My Mag) : 13 January 2023)
 

Luan Trimi :MSN (Oh My Mag) : 13 January 2023

Putin imploring Denis Manturov to “Please, I ask you to expedite this work ( i.e. orders for military equipment amid the ongoing war in Ukraine), has been precipitated by the critically changing military support for Ukraine from the West

 As reported by Luke McGee, Saskya Vandoorne, Sebastian Shukla and Lindsay Isaac,

"The Western alliance’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine received a shot in the arm this week as multiple European nations for the first time answered President Volodymyr Zelensky’s longstanding call to supply modern battle tanks to Kyiv.

France and Poland have pledged to soon send tanks for the Ukrainian military to use in its efforts to protect itself from Russia. The UK and Finland are considering following suit."  (CNN : 14 January 2023) (my emphasis)

And as now reported by Sean Meleady,

"Rishi Sunak (left) [British Prime Minister] will send a squadron of [Challenger] tanks to Ukraine as part of Britain's continued support for the country in its war with Russia. According to The Sun the Prime Minister has approved the plan, which will mark the first time Britain has supplied Ukraine with tanks." (Express : 14 January 2023) (my emphasis)

As was to be expected, Sabine Siebold and Andrew Gray report that,

"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv by allowing the export of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine

Germany has resisted such a move so far, saying Western tanks should only be supplied to Ukraine if there is agreement among Kyiv's main allies, particularly the United States." (Reuters : 13 January 2023) (my emphasis)

 This 'feeble excuse' of Scholz to not supply Ukraine with German tanks is simply following on from former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's appeasement of Putin since his invasion of, and annexation of, Crimea in 2014, and his subsequent invasion of the Ukraine's Donbas.

 Besides having to implore Denis Manturov, the Russian minister of industry and trade, to speed up State orders for armaments, Putin is also having to resort to scramble for yet more manpower due to his army's failures in Ukraine.

As reported by Yahoo News,

"Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis (right) tells Andrea Mitchell “Putin is really scrambling” to gain more “manpower” for his fight against Ukraine. “He's going to the prisons. He's going into homeless shelters. He's taking people in their 50s and 60s,” Stavridis explains. “Putin will take anything. It’s a sign of how difficult this fight has become for him." (Yahoo News : 13 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Andrea Mitchell : MSNBC : 13 January 2023

In his interview with Andrea Mitchell (above), Stavridis also states that,

Andrea Mitchell : The other signal here is that Russia ... Putin has replaced his commander .. General Gerasimov is now taking over ... Does this signal dissension in the Kremlin to you?

Stavridis : It absolutely does ... [Gerasimov and Shoigu] ... are in an internal struggle inside the Kremlin to gain the ear .. to hold the ear of Vladimir Putin. The competing faction is the individual who leads this Wagner Group .. a man named [ Yevgeny ] Prigozhin ... (ibid Andrea Mitchell )

As also reported by the New Zealand Herald,

"As Russian troops wage a ferocious house-to-house fight for control of strongholds in eastern Ukraine, a parallel battle is unfolding in the top echelons of military power in Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin reshuffling his top generals while rival camps try to win his favour.

In the reshuffle announced Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said the head of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov (left: with Putin), was named the new chief of Russian forces in Ukraine, while the former top commander there, General Sergei Surovikin, was demoted to Gerasimov’s deputy after only three months on the job." (New Zealand Herald : 13 January 2023) (my emphasis)

The walls of military defeat continue to close in around Putin.

The Russian economy is also suffering from the economic blows of his war with Ukraine.

As reported by Charlie Bradley (right),

"Russia's achieved an unwanted economic record in December as Moscow was forced to borrow £46billion in one month. This comes as the country continues to grapple with Western sanctions.
...

The Kremlin's finance minister Anton Siluanov (left) confirmed this deficit which equates to roughly 2.3 percent of Russian GDP (gross domestic product).
...
This also means that Russia's spending is more than 30 percent higher than had been forecast at the start of 2022." (Express : 11 January 2023) (my emphasis)
 
As Putin's problems continue to become insurmountable, 2023 will be 'make-or-break' year for him in his war with Ukraine. 

(to be continued)

Time is simply not on Putin's side.

As we enter the new year, Putin and his generals are scrambling to confront the critically changing military support for Ukraine from the West.

As reported by ABC News (Associated Press),

"Germany will supply Ukraine with armored personnel carriers and a Patriot missile battery, the government said Thursday.
...
It came shortly after France said it will soon hold talks with Ukraine to arrange for the delivery of armored combat vehicles. France's presidency said that will be the first time this type of Western-made wheeled tank destroyer will be given to the Ukrainian military. (ABC News (Associated Press) : 5 January 2023) (my emphasis) 

As also reported by PBS,

"The U.S. will send Ukraine nearly $3 billion in military aid, in a massive new package that will for the first time include several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles, U.S. officials said Thursday, in the Biden administration’s latest step to send increasingly lethal and powerful weapons to help Ukraine beat back Russian forces. (PBS News : 5 January 2023) (my emphasis)

MSN (NBC News) : 9 January 2023

Adding to the US weaponry heading for Ukraine, MSN (Sky News ) reports that,

"Sky News exclusively revealed that [British Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak's government is considering providing Challenger 2s to be used by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield against Russia.

If it goes through, the move would make the UK the first country to send Western-made main battle tanks to Ukraine." (ibid MSN (NBC News) : 9 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, as reported by News 18,

"India and the United States “agree very much" that the restoration of an enduring peace in Ukraine is essential, the Biden administration has said. (News 18 : 7 January 2023) (my emphasis)

News 18 : 7 January 2023 : YouTube

As reported by Yulia Latynina (left) in 2012,

"Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that President-elect Vladimir Putin is poised to undertake the most significant reform Russia has seen in recent years by creating a National Guard from scratch. These special forces, numbering up to 400,000 men, would answer directly to the president and would be charged with protecting the country from internal threats." (Moscow Times : 3 April 2012) (my emphasis)

CGTN America : 2017 : YouTube

Fast forward to 2023 and, as reported by Scott McDonald (left),

"Ukraine's General Staff reported Sunday that Russia has used a national guard unit to shoot soldiers who plan on deserting or surrendering to Ukrainian forces.
...
U.K. intelligence reported in early November 2022 that

Russia began deploying such troops along the Russia-Ukraine border as "barrier soldiers" (right) to prevent Russian soldiers from retreating by the threat of shooting them." (Newsweek : 8 January 2023) (my emphasis)

By employing his National Guard as "barrier soldiers", Putin is having to admit that Russian soldiers deserting and surrendering to Ukraine has become a serious problem amongst his forces in Ukraine. 

CNN : mid December 2022 : YouTube

As reported by Catherine Belton  (right) that,

"Putin “feels the loss of his [international] friends,” said one Russian state official with close ties to diplomatic circles, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “Lukashenko is the only one he can pay a serious visit to. All the rest see him only when necessary.”(Washington Post : 30 December 2022) (my emphasis),

and as also reported by Amy Landsey (left) that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare trip to Belarus last week, where he discussed closer military cooperation with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.
...
Kyiv said the Kremlin was guilty of “desperate and persistent efforts to involve Belarus in its aggressive war against Ukraine”. " (Sky News AU : 28 December 2022 ) (my emphasis),

it is inevitable that Putin is now scraping the Kremlin barrel for a "peace" formula of talks that will still allow him to pronounce his victory over Ukraine, whilst at the same time hobbling the political and economic future of Ukraine.

It is no wonder, therefore, that as reported by Ukrinform,

"Oleksiy Danilov (right), the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said this on Ukraine's television, Ukrinform reports.

"We are currently being offered the Korean scenario. The so-called conditional '38th parallel.' Here are Ukrainians, but there Ukrainians are not like that. The Russians will now invent anything. I know for sure that one of the options they can offer us is the '38th parallel'," Danilov said. (Ukrinform : 9 January 2023) (my emphasis)

The absurdity of this "Korean scenario" is summed up by the fact that,

"At the same time, Danilov said that during a recent meeting, Korean representatives noted that establishing the division of the Korean peninsula into two parts along the 38th parallel was a mistake as the concessions made in the 1950s after the end of the war between North Korea and South Korea are currently leading to problems." (ibid Ukrinform)

What Putin, nor his 'diminishing' Kremlin clique, seem not to realize is that by simply pronouncing parts of Ukraine as "legally" parts of Russia in the Russian Duma because of a series of concocted 'referendums' held at the barrel of a gun simply does not have ANY International legal status.

Furthermore, no amount of forcing Russian conscripts to become cannon fodder for his delusion of recreating the old USSR will ever legitimise his attempt at land grabs in Ukraine, including that of Crimea.

As the West has now decided to give Ukraine the weapons necessary to push Putin's army back over their border into Russia, it is now only a matter of time before Putin's delusions implodes before his very eyes.

Time is simply not on Putin's side.

 

(to be continued)

Putin has reached his last throw of the dice in his war with Ukraine.

 In a recent blog entry (29 December 2022) I wrote that,

"The desperation of Putin and Lavrov to conceal the "truth" behind their actions and their words may, indeed, point to growing rumblings of a coup against Putin. (cf Ciaran McGrath)

For Putin, the consequences to himself of the truth behind his current actions is simply too ghastly for him to contemplate.

Has Putin's "truth" now become one of "fear"? "(blog entry 29 December 2022)

And in a rare Kremlin admission, Will Stewart and Chris Jewers  reported that,

"In a rare admission, Russia's defence ministry said 63 soldiers had died in the fiery blast which destroyed the temporary barracks in a former vocational college in Makiivka, twin city of the Russian-occupied regional capital of Donetsk." (Mail Online: 2 January 2023) (my emphasis)

This Kremlin admission has now been proven to be untrue.

As reported by  Pavel Polityuk , 

"Igor Girkin (right), a former commander of pro-Russian troops in eastern Ukraine who is now one of the highest profile Russian nationalist military bloggers, said hundreds and been killed or wounded in the blast. Ammunition had been stored at the site and military equipment there was un-camouflaged, he said." (Reuters : 2 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Reuters : 2 January 2023

As also reported by Euronews,

"Increasingly influential Russian war reporters say hundreds were killed in an attack on a vocational school in Makiivka and have accused top military commanders of failing to learn lessons from their past mistakes.
...
“My God, who is going to believe the number 63? The building has been completely destroyed,” wrote a Russian, Nina Vernykh, on the main Russian social network VKontakte." (Euronews : 3 January 2023) (my emphasis) 

And as Putin's war strategy continues to unravel, Berny Torre (left) now also reports that,

"Vladimir Putin faces furious calls from Moscow officials to be tried for treason after up to 400 of Russian soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian strike. The Russian dictator is under pressure as senior politicians and war commentators openly blasted the "stupid losses". (Express : 3 January 2023) (my emphasis)

(Express : 3 January 2023)

Adding to Putin's woes, 

• French President Emmanuel Macron in his New Year's address on Dec. 31 said that France will continue to help Ukraine "without fail" and "until victory itself."
  
  "We will build a just and durable peace together. Count on France and count on Europe," Macron said. (Kyiv Independent : 1 January 2023) (my emphasis)

• The EU would begin disbursing the 18 billion euros support package for Ukraine in monthly tranches, European Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter after her first diplomatic phone call in 2023 with President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Kyiv Independent : 2 January 2023) (my emphasis)

• Taking to Twitter, [Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark] Rutte said: ”Ukraine has held its own against Russia’s barbaric invasion for almost a year now.
  
  ”The months ahead are crucial. I just spoke to President @ZelenskyyUa and assured him that the Netherlands will do everything it can to help Ukraine not only defend itself, but also win the war.” (The Sun : 3 January 2023) (my emphasis)

•  President Zelensky @ZelenskyyUa and his fellow Ukrainians stand tall in the face of Russian attacks on Kyiv. In a call today, I [Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Store] was glad to reassure him of Norway’s full and continued financial support and support to Ukraines legitimate self defence. — Jonas Gahr Støre (@jonasgahrstore) (The Sun : 3 January 2023) (my emphasis)

• Rishi Sunak [UK Prime Minister] reaffirmed the UK’s support for Ukraine in an early January call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
  
  The two leaders spoke after a Ukrainian rocket attack killed dozens of Russian soldiers in a town in the Donetsk region. Mr Sunak told the Ukrainian president that the country could “count on the UK to continue to support it for the long term”. (ITV News : 3 January 2023) (my emphasis)

ITV News : 3 January 2023

But perhaps most disconcerting of all for Putin,  Maria Sheahan (left) reports that,

"NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on NATO member states to supply more weapons to Ukraine, according to an interview published on Friday.

"I call on allies to do more. It is in all our security interests to make sure Ukraine prevails and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not win," Stoltenberg told German news agency DPA. (Reuters : 30 December 2022) (my emphasis)

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, predicts that Putin will redouble his use of Iranian drones to try to beat the people of Ukraine into submission.

As reported by Sarakshi Rai (right),

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed in his New Year address to Ukrainians that Russia is planning a “prolonged” attack with drones supplied by Iran.
...
We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack with ‘Shaheds’. Its bet may be on exhaustion. On exhaustion of our people, our air defense, our energy sector,” he wrote." (Yahoo (The Hill) : 3 January 2023) (my emphasis)

Putin has now reached his last throw of the dice in his war with Ukraine.

 

(to be continued)