The wrapper is coming off Putin’s war, Russians are starting to hear the truth.
Russia carried out a successful test of its new submarine-launched Bulava intercontinental missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead.
"We need a reliable and complete assessment of the potential threats to Russia's military security. For each of these threats a sufficient, adequate response should be found," he told a Kremlin meeting of government officials from the defence sector.
"First of all, we are talking about creating a rational series of assault capabilities including maintaining a guaranteed solution to the task of nuclear deterrence."
He said Russia must ensure it develops high-precision weapons in the next few years but added: "Someone might want to start a new arms race. We are not going to take part in that, of course."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/putin-underlines-need-for-nuclear-deterrence-as-missile-tested-1.2761771
I keep thinking of the Russo/Finnish War of 1939/40. The Russkies didn’t do too good there at first. It wasn’t until Stalin just overwhelmed them with tons of firepower.
Folks here are like Obama, checker players. Vlad plays chess.
His foray into East Ukraine was merely a gambit, a win win fork with double win win complexity.
If he captured east Ukraine with out too much cost, it was a win. If he lost, it was still a win because he knows that the EU and Obama would crow about their win over Russia. For Putin, that is actually a win because he has the Crimea and that was the principle objective. The EU and Obama raised the fig leaf stink over east Ukraine while silently ceding the Crimea.
Thus for Putin, the foray into Ukraine gambit was winwin