“They will hang me“: this is what Vladimir Putin has told his inner circle – the dictator fears for his life in the event of defeat in Ukraine, writes The Economist.
He most likely believes that ending the war without achieving at least the minimum goal - the capture of the entire eastern Donbas in Ukraine - would expose him to physical danger.
Sources close to the Kremlin claim that after several weeks of reflection over the summer, Putin seems to have decided to escalate the conflict.
A long-time associate of his says that he probably perceived the visit of CIA Director Ratcliffe as a sign of American weakness. He interpreted the November 2021 visit to Moscow by Bill Burns, Joe Biden’s CIA director, in a similar vein, to warn him not to invade Ukraine. Three months later, he did.
The dictator intends to send another 300,000–400,000 Russians to the war. The additional personnel will likely be recruited through coercion by regional authorities to contain potential political discontent.
Russian authorities are already testing a new mobilization system in the Penza region, 750 km southeast of Moscow.