The world hasn’t seen it yet: On Friday, Putin declared large parts of Ukraine to be Russian territory, threatened the West with nuclear bombs – and then watched over the weekend as his army suffered one defeat after the other. Concerns about the use of nuclear weapons are growing.
Because by annexing land that he doesn’t even control, Putin has made himself, his army and all of Russia look ridiculous to the world – and at the same time destroyed every option for a face-saving way out.
There is no way back for him. This brings us to the situation that Olaf Scholz always wanted to avoid: a compromise, a peace solution, is no longer possible with Putin.
Russia’s situation is getting worse every day: it’s losing the war at the front, and at home questions are growing as to who is responsible for the disaster.
Putin’s clock is ticking, his back is against the wall – and the war is entering its most dangerous phase.
Defeat is unlikely to be an option for Putin – but the use of nuclear weapons may be the last trump card, an act of desperation. It is now a matter of using maximum deterrence to convince the Russian leadership that this is their certain end.
Commentary by Mopo editor Mathis Neuburger
Putin’s “bloodhound”, Ramzan Kadyrov, called for a nuclear strike by Russia in the four annexed territories. Military experts are now explaining why that doesn’t make sense. With his aggressive verbal attacks, Kadyrov is also tearing a deep rift in Russia’s military structures.
Azovstal fighter Mikhailo Dianov spent four months in Russian captivity. He was recently released in a prisoner exchange. Now he speaks for the first time about the experiences. He tells of torture, humiliation and pain that will probably remain.
For Zelenskyj, the military successes make the annexations forgotten. Ex-CIA boss Petraeus sees a “desperate” Putin. And an analysis by the renowned ISW shows: Russian reporting is changing “fundamentally”. what happened in the night
The original to this post “Putin has destroyed any option for a face-saving way out” comes from Mopo.
