Russian President Vladimir Putin, who started the war in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and could end it in a minute, appears to be determined to prevail, ruthlessly and at all costs.
Stoking his countrymen this month on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad that turned around Moscow's fortunes in World War II, he said: "The willingness to go beyond for the sake of the Motherland and the truth, to do the impossible, has always been and remains in the blood, in the character of our multiethnic people."
Ukrainian forces have liberated more than half the territory Russia seized. The war has killed tens of thousands on both sides, caused widespread destruction, and induced not only Ukraine but Sweden and Finland to seek NATO membership. It has increased the security threat to Russia and scuttled decades of Russia's integration with the West, bringing international isolation.
Observers see a long, grinding war that Putin is determined to win, with his way out hard to predict. But now, according to Stanovaya, "It feels like there is not any hopes that the conflict can be solved any other way than militarily. And this is scary."Analysts see several scenarios for Putin, depending on battlefield developments. The scenarios, not mutually exclusive, range from what could be his biggest nightmare -- a coup or uprisings like those he saw as a KGB agent in East Germany in 1989, in the USSR in 1991 or Ukraine in 2004 and 2014 -- to winning reelection next year.
Such tuning out, along with economic hardships, could blow back on Putin, he said, perhaps this spring, as Russians ask, "You promised victory, so where is it?"
المملكة العربية السعودية أحدث الأخبار, المملكة العربية السعودية عناوين
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