War

[Montuno]

Alert on the Ukrainian border: they capture women to prostitute them and children to take them to labor camps

The mafias settle at the arrival points, stations and road junctions, offering lodging and transportation to an "easy target": women and children who are tired and totally lost.

Erika MontanesFOLLOW, CONTINUE

Updated:03/16/2022 09:41 a.m

In all humanitarian catastrophes, the inhabitant of the planet is capable of surprising with the best and the worst. In the "commendable" wave of solidarity that is raging in Europe to shelter the flood of three million Ukrainian refugees, "there are always people who sneak into the circuits and take advantage of the most vulnerable."
These are warning phrases used by Michela Ranieri, an expert in Foreign Policy and Humanitarian Action at the NGO Save the Children , who these days looks with great concern at the children who have arrived alone at the Ukrainian border, because their parents preferred to leave them in the border of the country and return to the war, thinking that this way they would be safe and sound.
(...continue...)

https://www.abc.es/sociedad/abci-al...rlos-campos-trabajo-202203160124_noticia.html


​

 

[HempKat]

This was probably the trigger.Zelensky got permission from the US to go after Medvetsjoek, an oligarch and friend from Putin with a political party and 1 million followers.

As if the free and fairly elected President of a country needs permission from the US to go after a fellow Ukrainian who is head of the opposition party and has close ties to the leader of the Country threatening to invade Ukraine and that opposition leader is under investigation for suspicion of financing Terrorism.

 

[f-e]

I note a few Russian supporters saying it's to stop the NWO. I wonder if they know what that is. The order is everyone below, owing everyone above. The best way to get people in the deepest debt, is to threaten their lives. War is the mechanism to achieve this. Feeding both sides weapons that they will buy at any cost. Money. Agreements. It's really very simple. This NWO isn't designed by a super computer, it's big people pushing around little people, as is the human condition amongst those that want such an order. It's so simple it doesn't need a name, and to call it 'new' just makes it something to fight. Like you can stop this from coming, when it's always been here. Just step back and look at it. Fighting the NWO is what the NWO wants.

Russia is now closing in on the 'all we want is them not in nato' position. Starting to blame the states for not helping negotiations, like they just want to fuel the crisis. I don't think they will even demand a bit of the Ukraine. They will settle for some promises on paper, that make Russian communities stronger. The end game to advance the Russian boarder through polling the people, over decades, a town at a time. Though never allowing polling on their side of the boarder, as it can't move that way.

At the end of the day, this NWO that's not new, has profited from the deals forced by war. Then their share of the rebuilding costs. The money mill turns over a huge sum, and we are back where we started. Except the people owe more money to the top of the pyramid.



I notice an interesting development just now. The Ukraine has moved from defensive play, to some degree of attack. What shape this has taken is unclear. They are striking out though. It's a change in position that could mean a few things. Ranging from desperation to enough stockpiled to frighten their enemy.

 

[Montuno]

...
​​​​​​

 

[h.h.]

I note a few Russian supporters saying it's to stop the NWO. I wonder if they know what that is. The order is everyone below, owing everyone above. The best way to get people in the deepest debt, is to threaten their lives. War is the mechanism to achieve this. Feeding both sides weapons that they will buy at any cost. Money. Agreements. It's really very simple. This NWO isn't designed by a super computer, it's big people pushing around little people, as is the human condition amongst those that want such an order. It's so simple it doesn't need a name, and to call it 'new' just makes it something to fight. Like you can stop this from coming, when it's always been here. Just step back and look at it. Fighting the NWO is what the NWO wants.

Russia is now closing in on the 'all we want is them not in nato' position. Starting to blame the states for not helping negotiations, like they just want to fuel the crisis. I don't think they will even demand a bit of the Ukraine. They will settle for some promises on paper, that make Russian communities stronger. The end game to advance the Russian boarder through polling the people, over decades, a town at a time. Though never allowing polling on their side of the boarder, as it can't move that way.

At the end of the day, this NWO that's not new, has profited from the deals forced by war. Then their share of the rebuilding costs. The money mill turns over a huge sum, and we are back where we started. Except the people owe more money to the top of the pyramid.



I notice an interesting development just now. The Ukraine has moved from defensive play, to some degree of attack. What shape this has taken is unclear. They are striking out though. It's a change in position that could mean a few things. Ranging from desperation to enough stockpiled to frighten their enemy.

To them the NWO is a free Ukraine. They believe it belongs to Russia. USSR, the old world order.

 

[Montuno]

The dangers of the Ukraine border: looting, reselling humanitarian aid and the risk of child trafficking :

• NGOs that work in the field warn that unaccompanied minors are arriving and are being picked up without being recorded in any document from the reception center
• Volunteers in Dorohusk warn of the resale of food and SIM cards in Ukraine, products that are given away for free at the Polish border

https://www.epe.es/es/internacional...ania-ayuda-humanitaria-trafico-ninos-13348647

 

[HempKat]

Okay I'm starting to be concerned about something I see few if anybody even hinting at. Given the reputation Putin has had his entire life and the cold calculating way he's always conducted himself even in recent times. I find it hard to buy into the notion that just because he's about to turn 70 in October he's now become so feeble minded that he's lost all control of the people he surrounds himself with and that he doesn't know that those same people are so corrupt they've turned the once feared and fairly well equipped military into a completely incompetent force with nothing but old outdated or poorly maintained equipment and supplies. Given that his goal has long been to return Russia to the former glory of the USSR which is a goal that if is to be realistically achieved is at best a long game to be played much like how the Chinese play it, then there is no way he can achieve his dream in his lifetime. Why haven't people considered everything that has played out so far is just theater, designed to lull the opposition, especially NATO Allies into thinking that the Russian leader and the forces he commands is even weaker then we thought? All the while pushing well past his initial justification of protecting the separatists in the east and even ignoring the more recently stated object of denazification in favor of moving closer and closer to establishing strong positions on the Western border (face to face with NATO forces in the former Soviet territories that have joined NATO). All the while committing daily and worsening war crimes in what appears to be a scorched earth posture towards Ukraine that could finally draw NATO into the battle?

I think long before he entered Ukraine Putin was preparing to go up against NATO and he's been doing his best to give NATO every excuse to get involved so he can say, "See I told you they were coming for me" and then start world war III. Then once he either draws NATO in or gets a firm foothold on the Western Ukrainian border he will bring in the Russian forces we were expecting, operating with the skill we expected and armed with the best weapons and supplies Russia has to offer hoping to catch NATO off guard. Given the sheer overwhelming might and forces a united NATO force could hit him with only such trickery as he's been using so far has an even remote chance in having a positive outcome. If it doesn't work out then he could pull out his nuclear ace in the hole gambling on NATO not having the resolve to respond because if they did it would likely lead to the end of mankind which would be a result likely more palatable to him then the more likely outcome of utter defeat and the likely betrayal and assassination at the hands of the same people he currently controls, when he's driven back to Russia in defeat and Russia has now become the new North Korea. where the starving masses will have to eat grass (the kind you mow not the kind we grow) if they want any chance to survive. I think so far he's been serving up the worst of his military as cannon fodder with the slight chance they might have taken Ukraine quickly and easily but not really missed if they fail. Also since they have been failing he's now bringing in foreign forces he sees as little better then conscripts although probably more effective for the now scorched earth campaign and why he's asking for equipment and supplies from China and intercepting any aide he can coming from the West to Ukraine. It's all stuff easily sacrificed until he's ready to start the real battle he has in mind.

I mean I hope I'm wrong but that sort of hidden agenda matches better the Putin we used to think he was and is the only route that has any chance of him seeing the realization of his dream while he's still alive even if it's just a slim chance.

 

[Montuno]

Spanish ex-soldiers cross Europe to enlist in the militia

The number of soldiers who offer to fight on the side of the Ukrainians increases: «We are not afraid and we are not crazy. Let's do what we know"

"We are going to Ukraine to do what we know how to do." With this forcefulness speaks one of the Spanish ex-military who these days are preparing to travel to the front and stand up to the Russian invasion. His meager backpack is a good example that he knows what he's doing. Thermal and light clothing, a polar cap, military boots, metal plates with a name and blood group, polarized sunglasses, a basic mobile phone –nothing of the latest generation due to the problems they cause– valid documentation and a Spanish flag.
It is the same suitcase with which a couple of volunteers from the Peninsula arrived in Ukraine last week with a clear objective: to put their formation at the service of David in a war in which Goliath "has crossed all the red lines, starting with children".
The legal system of our country allows – as the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, pointed out just a few days ago – Spanish volunteers enlist in the Ukrainian army.
For other countries such as the United States or Great Britain, it is an illegal practice that could lead to up to three years in prison, but in cases such as Spanish or German, it is not prohibited. Since the beginning of the invasion, some 20,000 volunteers from fifty countries have mobilized to join the Ukrainian ranks. All of them go to the so-called international units or legions, in which English is the lingua franca. Sweden, Lithuania, Mexico, the United States, England or India are some of the most frequent nationalities. In the case of the Spaniards, the group is growing little by little as those interested manage to penetrate the Polish border and enter the country. "People are uploading," they confirm.
To do so, explain those who are about to embark on this journey, there are two ways. The first is to go to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and submit an application for voluntary enlistment , for which a specific email address already exists. It can also be filed at the Barcelona or Malaga consulate, although according to the testimonies collected by ABC these channels "are a bit saturated and there comes a time when they answer you with automatic emails that slow everything down." So every day there are more volunteers who choose to take an alternative route, paying for the trip by private car, which means about forty hours of driving. «Several have already left, a few days ago, and there are more organized departures, from here for example there is one on the 26». indicates a Galician ex-military man who, given the riskiness of the plan, is quick to clarify that "we are not crazy, I have been thinking about it since day two of the combat, because this has to be stopped."
"A knock on the table"

The motivations to fight in a war that is not yours are equal to the gravity of the conflict. “You have to hit the table. We cannot allow Russia to invade a country at the gates of Europe in the middle of 2022 and do nothing . Because this is not going to end in Ukraine, Putin is not going to settle for this, we have to be clear about that. His words tie with one of the slogans that the Spaniards who are already on the ground are clear about: "This war is not anti-Russian, it is anti-Putin."
In the case of an ex-soldier from A Coruña who plans to go shortly to ground zero of the conflict, she is moved by the images that are arriving of the attacks against civilians. "It breaks my soul to see those dead children in the streets, we have a heart and we are going to help from the front line." Her training makes her a valuable asset, because she is qualified to give military training. "I'll step up if someone needs to be taught what a grenade is or how a gun works, but that's not all. We talk about the importance of knowing a military protocol, of knowing how to move in steps or in a row, for example, so as not to fall at the first opportunity », she exposes while she rushes the paperwork to start the trip as soon as possible.

The essential suitcase of these volunteers - AC

​​​​​​Two of the Spanish soldiers who are already in Ukraine, with the flag of their country -

ABC​

The announcement issued by Putin warning that if he captures foreign soldiers he would be even harsher with them than with the Ukrainians themselves does not dent the mental strength of the professionals who are about to enlist on the side that has the losing side. “We know what we are exposing ourselves to, we are clear about it and we do not take these types of warnings into account,” they maintain.
Once they arrive in Ukraine, the first thing they do in the international militias is to equip the new soldiers with light weapons – basically AK-47s – and disguised uniforms . Also body protection. There is no training as such because people with boards are chosen, those who know "how a weapon works, how to put on a vest or how to hide." "There is not much time right now to train people in the country," they stress as a warning to sailors given the number of Spaniards without any preparation on the battlefieldwho have volunteered. “There is not going to be shooting, but neither is lifting wheels or doing weights,” they announce to those who recognize that they are in good physical shape, but without skills. “What you are going to do is wage a guerrilla war, to stop the advance of the Russians as much as possible, to stand up. The important thing is that they go slowly, that they wear out, ”they reflect on a hateful invasion that has already claimed the lives of 636 civilians in Ukraine, according to data handled by the UN. Nearly a hundred of them were children.

Will to day

"We know that they are much more", assure their contacts from Spain. «Some of them have already been in Syria and Afghanistan, and there are also some paramedics . They have also located translators who help them integrate, because language is still a barrier. When you arrive they make you a small adaptation with a basic vocabulary of Ukrainian and Russian, but that is not enough».
In the images that are exchanged in the Telegram groups, the most veterans cover their faces and all use an alias. But fear does not sneak into the conversations of those who plan to leave or the comments of those who are already there – they have not communicated since last Thursday – despite the fact that most have updated wills for what may happen. «Those who go are cured of fear and know what is there. For many it is not the first war and this is like everything, something can happen to you anywhere , but you do not feel afraid. You know that you are not going to sleep in a bed, that you are going to do night patrols and set targets. It is what we have been trained for”, they summarize with an amazing practicality that only their vocation can explain.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ab...les-ucrania-enf-202203160124_noticia_amp.html

 

[mexcurandero420]

As if the free and fairly elected President of a country needs permission from the US to go after a fellow Ukrainian who is head of the opposition party and has close ties to the leader of the Country threatening to invade Ukraine and that opposition leader is under investigation for suspicion of financing Terrorism.

That was in the news not long ago, so you can jerk you off but that what it is.

 

[JKD]

False flag shenanigans:

https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/false-flag-shenanigans-russian.html

 

[h.h.]

I think putas endgame is to pull his nuclear bluff on the world. Make us all quasi subjects of Russia. The threat of WW3 is imminent. However it is only a threat. Sooner or later, we will have to deal with it. That or live under it forever.

 

[Montuno]

Russia looks to the suspension of payments if it does not pay its debt maturities today

Moscow, with its frozen reserves, must satisfy this Wednesday 105 million euros

Russia has seen in just three weeks of war how its currency, the ruble, has been devalued, the Stock Exchange has closed, the multinationals have fled and their economic isolation has been consummated in the midst of a colossal international rejection of their invasion of Ukraine. This Wednesday, the list of damages may grow: Moscow faces the expiration of 117 million dollars (almost 105 million euros) in debt interest that must be repaid. If he doesn't, a 30-day grace period will open, after which he will officially go into receivership for the first time since 1998, when he couldn't pay his debts in rubles. To find a precedent for non-payment in foreign currency, one has to go back much further, to 1918, when the Soviet regime born of the triumphant Bolshevik revolution reneged on the debt accumulated by its tsarist predecessors.

Circumstances differ from a traditional crisis. The country has sufficient resources to meet the bill, which in a normal environment would not pose any difficulty. But the freezing of almost half of its foreign currency reserves - 300,000 of the 643,000 million dollars - has deprived it of access to the US currency. Until the last moment, the Kremlin hopes to get around the default using rubles. However, the two coupons that expire today, of 73 million and 44 million dollars, do not allow that alternative, and Fitch has warned that using local currency is equivalent to a default. In the remainder of the month alone, Russia must return another 614 million dollars, and in April it has even greater commitments, over 2,000 million.

Although the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 has already dissuaded many international investors from betting on Russia, others see how their capital may be trapped by a dispute that was difficult to anticipate just a month ago. Russian finances were not under pressure before the conflict. Public debt, at 17.9%, especially in rubles, is very low, and the trade surplus fueled by oil and gas sales provided a comfortable income cushion. That is why the Russian Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, in an interview on public television, accused the West of seeking an " artificial default " with sanctions, oblivious to the real situation of public accounts.
The Moscow Paradox

Russian insolvency has been on the table for days. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, warned of the Moscow paradox in statements to the American network CBS. "Russia has the money to pay its debt, but it can't access it," she explained. And she added that the institution stopped considering the breach as "an unlikely event." The rating agencies expressed themselves along the same lines. Last week Fitch downgraded Russia's rating from B to C , a move that the entity justified by its forecast that the sovereign debt default was "imminent". While Moody's and S&P downgraded their debt to junk bonds.

​​​​
What would the suspension of payments imply? :
On the one hand, it would plunge investors who bought Russian debt into uncertainty, who, in order to recover their money, will have to wait for a de-escalation of the tension between Russia and the West, which is unlikely in the short term, or get the insurance —known as CDS — cover losses. Ultimately, they can go to court and have Russian assets liquidated to pay off debts or parts of them.

On the other hand, although by not making the disbursement Russia would keep that money and harm investors from Western countries with which it maintains increasingly strained relations, non-payment would also affect Russian investors who acquired that debt, and would prevent the Eurasian giant be financed in the capital markets. This isn't much of a change, given that current sanctions already exclude it anyway, but it leaves Russia in a sticky position for years, or at least until regime change occurs.
“It is very serious in terms of credibility. The market has a good memory when there is a suspension of payments. Imagine that the war ends tomorrow, the return would not be easy, there is a lot of distrust towards Russia, ”says Roland Gillet, professor of Financial Economics at the Sorbonne University in Paris and at the Free University of Brussels. Ignacio de la Torre, chief economist at Arcano, explains that Russia's descent into hell has its own peculiarities compared to other famous debt crises. “Debt can kill you with cancer or a heart attack. Cancer is when you're insolvent because of too much government debt—like Greece in 2012. Heart attack when illiquidity generates a default, as can now happen to Russia”, Unlike a usual suspension of payments, debt restructuring in a context of sanctions and isolation seems complicated.
The scope of the impact for the international economy seems manageable. Georgieva calculates that international banks have an exposure to Russia of close to 120,000 million dollars, an amount that she considers insufficient to cause a global crisis, since despite appearing bulky, it is not "systemically relevant". The Reuters agency estimates that Russia has issued 15 international bonds with a nominal value of around 40,000 million dollars, and about half of them are held by international investors. It remains to know the names of the potential affected. According to the Financial Times , among them would be the American Pimco, the largest fixed income fund manager on the planet, owner of some 1.5 billion dollars of the now toxic Russian sovereign debt.

https://elpais.com/economia/2022-03...si-no-paga-hoy-sus-vencimientos-de-deuda.html

 

[mexcurandero420]

Russia looks to the suspension of payments if it does not pay its debt maturities today

Moscow, with its frozen reserves, must satisfy this Wednesday 105 million euros

Russia has seen in just three weeks of war how its currency, the ruble, has been devalued, the Stock Exchange has closed, the multinationals have fled and their economic isolation has been consummated in the midst of a colossal international rejection of their invasion of Ukraine. This Wednesday, the list of damages may grow: Moscow faces the expiration of 117 million dollars (almost 105 million euros) in debt interest that must be repaid. If he doesn't, a 30-day grace period will open, after which he will officially go into receivership for the first time since 1998, when he couldn't pay his debts in rubles. To find a precedent for non-payment in foreign currency, one has to go back much further, to 1918, when the Soviet regime born of the triumphant Bolshevik revolution reneged on the debt accumulated by its tsarist predecessors.

Circumstances differ from a traditional crisis. The country has sufficient resources to meet the bill, which in a normal environment would not pose any difficulty. But the freezing of almost half of its foreign currency reserves - 300,000 of the 643,000 million dollars - has deprived it of access to the US currency. Until the last moment, the Kremlin hopes to get around the default using rubles. However, the two coupons that expire today, of 73 million and 44 million dollars, do not allow that alternative, and Fitch has warned that using local currency is equivalent to a default. In the remainder of the month alone, Russia must return another 614 million dollars, and in April it has even greater commitments, over 2,000 million.

Although the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 has already dissuaded many international investors from betting on Russia, others see how their capital may be trapped by a dispute that was difficult to anticipate just a month ago. Russian finances were not under pressure before the conflict. Public debt, at 17.9%, especially in rubles, is very low, and the trade surplus fueled by oil and gas sales provided a comfortable income cushion. That is why the Russian Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, in an interview on public television, accused the West of seeking an " artificial default " with sanctions, oblivious to the real situation of public accounts.
The Moscow Paradox

Russian insolvency has been on the table for days. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, warned of the Moscow paradox in statements to the American network CBS. "Russia has the money to pay its debt, but it can't access it," she explained. And she added that the institution stopped considering the breach as "an unlikely event." The rating agencies expressed themselves along the same lines. Last week Fitch downgraded Russia's rating from B to C , a move that the entity justified by its forecast that the sovereign debt default was "imminent". While Moody's and S&P downgraded their debt to junk bonds.

​​​​
What would the suspension of payments imply? :
On the one hand, it would plunge investors who bought Russian debt into uncertainty, who, in order to recover their money, will have to wait for a de-escalation of the tension between Russia and the West, which is unlikely in the short term, or get the insurance —known as CDS — cover losses. Ultimately, they can go to court and have Russian assets liquidated to pay off debts or parts of them.

On the other hand, although by not making the disbursement Russia would keep that money and harm investors from Western countries with which it maintains increasingly strained relations, non-payment would also affect Russian investors who acquired that debt, and would prevent the Eurasian giant be financed in the capital markets. This isn't much of a change, given that current sanctions already exclude it anyway, but it leaves Russia in a sticky position for years, or at least until regime change occurs.
“It is very serious in terms of credibility. The market has a good memory when there is a suspension of payments. Imagine that the war ends tomorrow, the return would not be easy, there is a lot of distrust towards Russia, ”says Roland Gillet, professor of Financial Economics at the Sorbonne University in Paris and at the Free University of Brussels. Ignacio de la Torre, chief economist at Arcano, explains that Russia's descent into hell has its own peculiarities compared to other famous debt crises. “Debt can kill you with cancer or a heart attack. Cancer is when you're insolvent because of too much government debt—like Greece in 2012. Heart attack when illiquidity generates a default, as can now happen to Russia”, Unlike a usual suspension of payments, debt restructuring in a context of sanctions and isolation seems complicated.
The scope of the impact for the international economy seems manageable. Georgieva calculates that international banks have an exposure to Russia of close to 120,000 million dollars, an amount that she considers insufficient to cause a global crisis, since despite appearing bulky, it is not "systemically relevant". The Reuters agency estimates that Russia has issued 15 international bonds with a nominal value of around 40,000 million dollars, and about half of them are held by international investors. It remains to know the names of the potential affected. According to the Financial Times , among them would be the American Pimco, the largest fixed income fund manager on the planet, owner of some 1.5 billion dollars of the now toxic Russian sovereign debt.

https://elpais.com/economia/2022-03-...-de-deuda.html

Russia Gold Reserves was reported at 132.256 USD bn in Jan 2022

Don't forget about this

 

[mexcurandero420]

Petrodollar Cracks: Saudi Arabia Considers Accepting Yuan For Chinese Oil Sales

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/p...ia-considers-accepting-yuan-chinese-oil-sales

 

[Three Berries]

Tucker: Why are we funding this?

 

[h.h.]

Tucker: Why are we funding this?

Is that the RT guy?

 

[Petrochemical]

I dont need a ride, I need more ammo!

 

[flylowgethigh]

The little stripper wants to start WW 3. And the LIBERALS are joining the call! Bizarro world.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/leftist-reaction-zelenskys-speach-go-war-russia/

 

[Cannavore]

A synopsis of the situation in the Ukraine

https://odysee.com/@TheFascifist:c/A-Synopsis-of-the-Situation-in-the-Ukraine:e

Ukraine = Nazi country

This claim would hold more weight if Russia didnt have a larger neo nazi contingency than Ukraine currently does lol. They cant even de-nazify their own country.

 

[ButterflyEffect]

Okay I'm starting to be concerned about something I see few if anybody even hinting at. Given the reputation Putin has had his entire life and the cold calculating way he's always conducted himself even in recent times. I find it hard to buy into the notion that just because he's about to turn 70 in October he's now become so feeble minded that he's lost all control of the people he surrounds himself with and that he doesn't know that those same people are so corrupt they've turned the once feared and fairly well equipped military into a completely incompetent force with nothing but old outdated or poorly maintained equipment and supplies. Given that his goal has long been to return Russia to the former glory of the USSR which is a goal that if is to be realistically achieved is at best a long game to be played much like how the Chinese play it, then there is no way he can achieve his dream in his lifetime. Why haven't people considered everything that has played out so far is just theater, designed to lull the opposition, especially NATO Allies into thinking that the Russian leader and the forces he commands is even weaker then we thought? All the while pushing well past his initial justification of protecting the separatists in the east and even ignoring the more recently stated object of denazification in favor of moving closer and closer to establishing strong positions on the Western border (face to face with NATO forces in the former Soviet territories that have joined NATO). All the while committing daily and worsening war crimes in what appears to be a scorched earth posture towards Ukraine that could finally draw NATO into the battle?

I think long before he entered Ukraine Putin was preparing to go up against NATO and he's been doing his best to give NATO every excuse to get involved so he can say, "See I told you they were coming for me" and then start world war III. Then once he either draws NATO in or gets a firm foothold on the Western Ukrainian border he will bring in the Russian forces we were expecting, operating with the skill we expected and armed with the best weapons and supplies Russia has to offer hoping to catch NATO off guard. Given the sheer overwhelming might and forces a united NATO force could hit him with only such trickery as he's been using so far has an even remote chance in having a positive outcome. If it doesn't work out then he could pull out his nuclear ace in the hole gambling on NATO not having the resolve to respond because if they did it would likely lead to the end of mankind which would be a result likely more palatable to him then the more likely outcome of utter defeat and the likely betrayal and assassination at the hands of the same people he currently controls, when he's driven back to Russia in defeat and Russia has now become the new North Korea. where the starving masses will have to eat grass (the kind you mow not the kind we grow) if they want any chance to survive. I think so far he's been serving up the worst of his military as cannon fodder with the slight chance they might have taken Ukraine quickly and easily but not really missed if they fail. Also since they have been failing he's now bringing in foreign forces he sees as little better then conscripts although probably more effective for the now scorched earth campaign and why he's asking for equipment and supplies from China and intercepting any aide he can coming from the West to Ukraine. It's all stuff easily sacrificed until he's ready to start the real battle he has in mind.

I mean I hope I'm wrong but that sort of hidden agenda matches better the Putin we used to think he was and is the only route that has any chance of him seeing the realization of his dream while he's still alive even if it's just a slim chance.

Given what we know of him mixed with what we just don't know, that's as plausible a theory as any. It's as easy to believe that he's lost his marbles or that he thought he would capture Ukraine quickly and not expose the paper tiger that is the Russian military.

As you said, I hope you're wrong as it's the worst possible outcome for sure.