RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN UPDATE, FEBRUARY 5, 2023 [Putin Not Likely to Use Nukes.]

Institute for the Study of War ^ | February 5, 2023 | Kateryna Stepanenko and Mason Clark

[familyop]

Putin’s reluctance to take risks directly related to his conventional war in Ukraine indicates that he remains highly unlikely to pursue nuclear escalation or war with NATO. ISW previously assessed that Russian conventional war threats against NATO do not correspond with Russia’s capabilities and that Russia uses nuclear threats primarily to intimidate the West.[23] Putin evidently values his domestic status quo and seeks to avoid risky and controversial policies to support his own aims. Putin also continues to demonstrate that he remains a calculated individual who places considerable emphasis on eliminating risks—even while his perception of the situation he faces diverges from reality. Putin has thus repeatedly placed himself in the position of articulating maximalist and unrealistic objectives, calling on his government and military to achieve them—yet refraining from making the costly decisions the large-scale and protracted conventional war he has embarked on likely requires.

[familyop]

Much more in the report behind the link.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

In true Freeper fashion I am going to comment before reading the article. Of course not. He is not a drooling moron like our Spud in Chief, POTATUS, the drooling angry moron who is so drugged up at the SOTU speech it is a joke.

[Travis McGee]

"Institute for the Study of War" = integral part of the Nuland-Kagan neocon cabal that has wrought death, havoc and MIC megaprofits from Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya to Syria Yemen to Ukraine.

[Cronos]

Travo, you were busy last year claiming that Germany would freeze this winter.

You were wrong then, and you’re wrong again as you always are when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[canuck_conservative]

He is not a drooling moron

right, Putin is just a non-drooling doofus that keeps doubling-down on the stupid at every chance

look, just one year ago, Russia supplied 40% of Europe's gas ... now it's only supplying 10%

it takes a special kind of stupid to throw away a 30% market share, permanently

that's Putin, Russia's stupidest "leader" ever

[BobL]

“Putin is just a non-drooling doofus that keeps doubling-down on the stupid at every chance”

Link please.

[canuck_conservative]

so stupid he throws away a 30% market share, permanently

and Europe paid the good, hard foreign currency that Russia needed, reliably

that’s all gone now ... it takes a really stupid leader to pull that off, and in less than a year too

[grey_whiskers]

Thanks for pointing it out.

I am continually amazed at the drool-on-their-own-pants stupidity of most FReepers who even after everything (Russian collusion, Peach-Mint, COVID, masks, “safe and effective”, Ukraine, and the Economy) still read and utterly trust press releases / propaganda from Think Tanks and PeopleSmarterThanYou™, groups which didn’t even exist ten years ago — just because the groups have an ImportantSoundingName™ and issue statements written at more than a fourth grade reading level.

[BobL]

Putin’s now got a new customer, and it’s FAR LARGER than the DYING West.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

That gas is now going to India and China. The markets are up. Europe is importing LNG at economy crushing prices. You never took an Econ class did you?

[canuck_conservative]

a small fraction of the gas is going to China, not enough to make up for the 30% market share lost in Europe

and Russia has no gas pipelines to India

you might be thinking of oil ...

[Berlin_Freeper]

People freezing to death were in America but Travis McPutinStooge don’t give a crap about them because their deaths don’t boost his God Putin.