Where as I agree "Putin" has surrounded himself with people that either fear him, or are indeed are halfwits, he (Putin) one way or another (my belief he has certainly seen how Energy can and has been a very strong card to play) has allowed himself to believe "all peoples want to have Russia to lead" and has come up very short with the results we see in Ukraine. On the 9th of May he has to display to be a winner, so he will try to show that he has archived success in Ukraine. How that will "play" remains to be seen. The fact that he or his "Half-wits" keep using the threat of a Nuclear attack is IMHO a sign that things are getting "tough". The sanction's which have been imposed are "biting"