Putin is behaving increasingly strangely, which is terrifying - The Independent 0 18

At the economic forum in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin looked sick and puffy, while his statements about the war in Ukraine were far from the truth and quite wild, given the current situation on the battlefield.

As The Independent writes, Putin claimed that Russia is winning on the battlefield in Ukraine, and that business and the economy are thriving both domestically and abroad. He also asserted that the war can and must be won, and that Russia wants to acquire parts of four regions of Ukraine that his armies have not fully captured.

The publication notes that Putin is mimicking Trump in his growing unpredictability, making him increasingly dangerous. As noted by Fiona Hill, a U.S. presidential advisor on Russia, Putin is becoming "stranger," but should not be written off.

The lack of progress in Ukraine is pushing Putin towards new actions and provocations. He now portrays Europe as the main agent of Zelensky – Russian state media accuse European military and industry of providing fleets of drones supporting the Ukrainian war machine.

"This raises the risk of Russia staging 'false flag operations' to justify the expansion of the war into Belarus and further into the Baltic states and the Eastern Balkans, which would mean an attack on NATO partners. There are concerns about staged 'accidents' at nuclear power plants – and in Chernobyl, where the largest civil nuclear disaster in modern history occurred in 1986, and in Zaporizhzhia, military actions have recently taken place," predicts The Independent.

The publication notes that while Putin remains in power, the circle of his advisors and ideologues is narrowing and aging. Moreover, they have not developed any formula for victory in the war, achieving a ceasefire, or an agreement:

"As the Russian leadership finds itself in a psychological deadlock, the risk increases that it will resort to old tricks – chemical and biological weapons."

Peter Frankopan, a professor of global history at Oxford, suggested that the collapse of Putin's regime would mean anarchy over vast territories of Eastern Russia – where, he says, "there are arsenals of truly terrible things – and who knows what will happen" if they are unleashed.

The most concerning issue should be the horrifying human casualties on both sides. Such a situation cannot last long – and likely Putin understands this: yet another cause for concern regarding his mental state and political viability, the article notes.

"I suspect that it is the alarmingly obvious deterioration in the mental and physical condition of the Russian leader that prompted the head of the British armed forces to warn that we are now in greater danger than ever in his lifetime," writes The Independent's columnist Robert Fox.