When Putin launched his ‘special operation’ to dismantle Ukraine as a sovereign state, it soon became clear it would not be over by Christmas.
The Kremlin war machine (not sanctioned by the Russian people) thought the invasion of its noisy neighbour would be over in a matter of days, if not weeks.
It would roll in the tanks after the heavy artillery barrage, the Zelensky government would hopefully do a runner, and a more malleable regime would be installed to the liking of Moscow.
While the world expected Ukraine to crumble sooner, if not later, it was surprising to see Russia’s aggression quickly get stuck in the mud and snow.
To save face, the Russians have banned any mention of the war; they were going in to liberate the Ukrainians from the “neo-Nazis”.
They did so by following the WWII Nazi playbook with mass graves, terrorising the civilian population and indiscriminately blowing everything to bits.
If Putin couldn’t win, he is making sure there is nothing left for the victors to retrieve.
In reality, Ukraine has done the world a favour; it made world leaders feel less guilty about standing on the sidelines while a European country is bludgeoned into submission.
Certainly, the Ukrainian armed forces would be in worse shape if they didn’t receive modern weapons to defend themselves.
Ukraine has gone on the offensive, recovering territory the Russians had taken, but this has only angered Putin to wage a different kind of war.
A Russian missile offensive has targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure, especially utilities, in a very public bid to ensure the civilian population freezes this winter.
Long-range precision missiles ensured around 40% of the capital Kyiv was without water or electricity.
This week’s strikes came after Russia blamed Ukraine for a drone attack on its Black Sea Fleet in the annexed Crimea.
But a pattern is developing.
The more setbacks the Red Army faces on the battlefront, the more its commanders punish Ukraine’s civilian population.
As a bitter winter looms, Moscow hopes to break the population’s will to secure a peace deal on Russia’s terms.
Although this is unlikely, inflicting hardship may weaken defiance or prolong the conflict until the resolve among the countries supplying Ukraine with weapons melts away.
Ukraine leader Zelensky has accused Russia of ‘energy terrorism’ for destroying a third of the country’s power-generating facilities, leaving millions in the dark.
Zelensky said the fact that “Russia has resorted to terror against the energy sector indicates the weakness of the enemy”.
He said Ukraine could not be defeated on the battlefield, so Russia was resorting to freezing out the population.
A relatively small conflict in Europe has turned the world economy upside down as energy prices rise and food shortages drive rising inflation as economies face recession.
Everyone is paying the price for a needless and incomprehensible war with the only certainty that more suffering must be endured.
After annexing four Ukrainian provinces, which are now part of Russia, it isn’t easy to see Putin retreating from the country.
With no prospect for negotiations and no pullback considered, the Russians could see their options run out until they become nuclear.
As the war becomes nastier and more unpredictable, it seems we all have something to lose besides energy poverty, recession and rampant inflation.
‘Sky penis’
America tried to contribute to humiliating Russia when a US military aircraft drew a penis in the sky near Moscow’s base in Syria.
The KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling plane drew a ‘sky penis’ right next to Syria’s Tartus — the Kremlin’s naval facility in the Med.
There was no confirmation on whether the jet was on a routine mission to refuel fighter planes or to mock the Russians deliberately.
It was reported on Twitter that the aircraft stayed in position for almost two hours, just east of Cyprus.
Russia has close ties with Syria, and Damascus agreed to lease the port of Tartus to the Kremlin.
Tartus is Russia’s only base in the Mediterranean and is mainly used to deliver supplies to aid with its mission in Syria with the regime and to repair its warships.
Nevertheless, it will take more than a ‘sky penis’ to end this war where world security is at stake, even if it’s only Ukraine pushing back the invader.
