Russia’s energy crisis is pushing Putin not towards peace, but towards another escalation - Telegraph
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is losing the economic war faster than he gains any military advantage in Ukraine. Therefore, we should expect an escalation of the war.
As Censor.NET informs, The Telegraph writes about this.
The publication notes that the pinpoint strikes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian refineries have effectively paralyzed the energy sector of the aggressor country. At the same time, the Russian summer offensive has been ineffective: despite colossal losses, the Kremlin has failed to break through the Ukrainian defenses, built as a fortification belt, or change the strategic course of the war.
"The Russians are still pursuing us and hunting civilians with the help of drones, which is a terrible practice, but they are not achieving any strategic goal," stressed former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrii Zahorodniuk.
Ukrainian drone attacks are causing significant damage to Russian oil refineries and infrastructure, and Moscow is forced to cover the deficit by importing emergency fuel supplies from China, South Korea, and Belarus.
As a result, Russia is resorting to desperate measures, as Moscow is now even considering the idea of introducing a "parasitism tax" for those who are unemployed, and local banks are lending to the defense industry, which is only accelerating the financial crisis.
However, Russia's war economy continues to operate at full capacity, so analysts fear a new round of escalation. Zahorodniuk emphasizes that Putin always raises the stakes when things are going badly, so the likelihood of the war expanding in Europe is now extremely high. In his opinion, the risk zone today is Moldova, the Suwalki Corridor, and Estonian Narva, where the majority of the population is ethnic Russian.
Meanwhile, a possible unwritten pact between Moscow and Beijing poses an additional danger. Russian leader Xi Jinping supports Russia so that the United States cannot focus entirely on China.
Zagorodnyuk compares the current situation to the 19th-century Crimean War, when Russia lost not through military defeat but through economic exhaustion:
"The clock is ticking for Putin. And it is this countdown that makes this the most dangerous moment for Europe in decades."
