The US magazine The Economist said that the nuclear threats launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin reveal the extent of the mistakes he made in Ukraine, starting with his underestimation of its importance as a country, and his underestimation of the Western reaction, in addition to his lack of good management of the invasion process.
A report for the magazine said the war was "not going according to plan." Russia's forces are facing stiff resistance in Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, and the Ukrainian army is confronting it in the vicinity of the capital, Kyiv, and in the south, Russian forces have captured territory but mostly by avoiding entry the cities.
The Ukrainian government had clarified in a statement , Sunday, that there had been a mass bombing of the city of Kiev with various anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons, but the goal of encircling the city was thwarted.
Since the start of the invasion last Thursday, clips have been published showing the fierce resistance of the Ukrainians in the face of the Russian forces, and the Ukrainians are racing to join the popular resistance known as the "Defense of the Land of Ukraine".
Ukraine's delegate to the United Nations said 4,300 Russian soldiers had been killed and 200 captured during the fighting in Ukraine, while 16 Ukrainian children had died since Russia began its operations.
On Sunday, the Pentagon confirmed that Russia had not achieved what it wanted to achieve with the fourth day of the war on Ukraine.
A ministry official said, on Monday, that the Russian forces advanced about five kilometers towards the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in the last 24 hours, but indicated that the failure of the Russians to achieve their goal of reaching the capital due to the Ukrainian resistance may push them to re-evaluate their plans and perhaps their attacks become more aggressive.
The Economist report says that the war is still in its first week, and the Russian president can call up large military reserves to encircle Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, but at great cost to civilians and military on both sides.
And the moment he was forced to fight a war of "attrition" like this, he "would have already lost", the patriotic spirit that arose from his targeting of cities and their inhabitants had already ensured that any government ruling in his name would be considered illegitimate.
In much of the world, Putin will become an even more pariah, and at home, he will be the head of a society stifled by sanctions and crushed by its repressive regime.
The report points to three mistakes made by Putin in the war, the first of which is underestimating Ukraine as a state, and the second of mismanaging the war. He has so far failed to fully control the air, and has not convinced his soldiers of the purpose of the war, “and if he orders them to slaughter their Ukrainian relatives in large numbers, they may not obey.” orders. And if many of his troops die trying to crush Ukrainian cities, as is likely, he will not be able to cover it up at home."
The third mistake was to underestimate the West, which believed that it was "in decline and too busy to mobilize a response to the war" and "did not understand the people's belief in democracy", which translated into increasing popular support for Ukraine in European cities.
The report refers to Putin's announcement to put strategic weapons on "alert" in response to the severe sanctions taken by the West against him. He considered these sanctions tantamount to nuclear war, and this threat is not only morally wrong, but also raises the possibility of a catastrophic escalation.
This does not make the Western decision wrong, but rather indicates that "Putin's aggressiveness is evidence of how dangerous he is" and that reversing these measures would allow him to commit atrocities.
The report calls for the need to counter the Russian threat by clearly declaring in the Security Council and by all nuclear powers, including China and India, that issuing nuclear threats is unacceptable.
At the same time, senior American officers should alert their Russian counterparts that they will be held personally accountable for their actions.
"The world cannot afford to misjudge Putin again," the report says.
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