Explainer-in-brief: Putin’s desperate bid to look tough escalates violence
Moscow is running out of ammunition, and its military forces are exhausted. This assessment was provided yesterday by GCHQ chief Sir Jeremy Fleming – the man in charge of the intelligence agency.
His comments came after the appalling bombing that shook Kyiv on Monday. Putin described it as retaliation following the bombing of the Kerch bridge on Saturday. The bombing of the bridge connecting Crimea to Russia has been attributed to the Ukrainian intelligence services, although they haven’t claimed it.
Others believe Putin is openly targeting civilians to please the hard-core war supporters at home.
After Monday’s horror, the attacks in Kyiv seem to have stopped, prompting the question: has Putin run out of missiles, or is he waiting?
Sir Fleming reminded us that although Russia is stretched in Ukraine, it still has a very capable “military machine”.