Is Putin’s transfer of nuclear warheads to Belarus his last throw of his dice?

Holly Ellyatt (left) reports that,

 “Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed countries that he said were trying to “impose their dominance” and rules on others, saying Wednesday that those that do were “completely ignoring the sovereignty” of other states.
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There was not a whiff of irony from Putin, a leader who over his 23 years in power in Russia has overseen a systematic program of interference in other countries’ internal affairs and sovereignty, most recently, in Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine 15 months ago.” (CNBC : 24 May 2023) (my emphasis) 

This delusion of Putin, that he has NOT “completely ignored the sovereignty” of Ukraine, serves as the very bedrock upon which he invaded and started his current war with Ukraine.

And Sky News now reports that,

“Russia has already begun the transfer of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, according to Alexander Lukashenko.
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Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) said the move was due to an “extremely sharp escalation of threats on the western borders of Russia and Belarus”. (Sky News : 25 May 2023) (my emphasis)

One should be in no doubt that those ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons will be aimed at Ukraine as the impending defeat of Putin occupying forces in Ukraine looms ever larger.

In the recent words of the head of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin (right),

“We stormed in an aggressive manner and stomped our boots all over Ukraine while looking for Nazis,” Prigozhin said. “We approached Kyiv, s**t our pants, and retreated. Next onto Kherson, where we also s**t our pants and retreated, and nothing seems to be working out for us.“

He said the vague goals stated by his long-time associate President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials at the beginning of the war, as aiming to “denazify” and “demilitarize” Ukraine, had failed.” (CBS News : 25 May 2023) (my emphasis)

CNN : 25 May 2023 : YouTube

More significantly, as reported by Fred Pleitgen,

“Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin says his troops will leave Bakhmut to Russian military forces and criticized Russia’s elite and the failure to achieve the war’s objective of weakening Ukraine.” (CNN : 25 May 2023) (my emphasis)

Added to which, as reported by John Varga (left),

“Daring attacks in the Belgorod region have shown the Russian resistance movement is real and that Vladimir Putin is no longer in control of the security situation inside his own country, the political representative for the Freedom of Russia Legion has told Express.co.uk.
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Ilya Ponomarev (right), a former Russian MP and the political representative for the Legion told the Express that the attacks had sown panic among both the civilian and military administrations in Russia.” (Express : 23 May 2023) (my emphasis)

Al Jazeera : 23 May 2023 : YouTube

And if this were not enough to further shake Putin’s confidence in his political survival, France 24 (Tokyo AFP) reports that,

“Japan announced fresh sanctions against Russia on Friday over its invasion of Ukraine, targeting its military as well as the construction and engineering sectors.
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The latest embargo by Tokyo follows the Group of Seven summit Japan hosted last week in Hiroshima, where the bloc’s leaders agreed to “starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine”. (France 24 (Tokyo AFP) : 26 May 2023) (my emphasis)

Added to which,

“Hundreds of thousands of South Korean artillery rounds are on their way to Ukraine via the United States, after Seoul’s initial resistance toward arming Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said Seoul had reached a “confidential arrangement” with Washington to transfer the shells to the US to be delivered to Ukraine, after the Biden administration asked its Asian ally last year for artillery support.” (Hyonhee Shin and Ju-min Park : Reuters : 25 May 2023) (my emphasis)

In a tacit admission of defeat in Ukraine Putin’s glove-puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, has now announced that,

“Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who regularly makes blunt remarks about the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, said Friday that the conflict was likely to drag on for years.

“This conflict is for a very long time. It’s all for decades, probably,” said Medvedev, who is now the deputy head of the Russian Security Council — directly under Russian President Vladimir Putin — during a visit to Vietnam, according to Russian state-owned newswire RIA Novosti.” (Nicolas Camut : Politico : 26 May 2023) (my emphasis)