The guns have so far remained silent on the snow-covered Russian-Ukrainian border, but there is certainly no peace there; a rather unusual war is in progress. It is unlike any other wars waged by Russia under the lengthy rule of President Vladimir Putin, who began his first presidential term with a war in Chechnya that was officially defined as a counter-terrorist operation. The present confrontation goes beyond Russia’s track record of “hybrid” attacks, like its interference in the 2016 presidential elections in the United States, or its limited foreign interventions, like the ongoing mission in Syria. The stakes are far higher than in all of Moscow’s previous experiments with power projection, as if Putin has concluded that the time has come to resolutely challenge his main adversaries—the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This unprecedented challenge can perhaps be described as a “blackmail-war”; and while the key target of these military threats is Ukraine, Russia’s demands are addressed first and foremost to US President Joseph Biden, whom the Kremlin sees as bedeviled by domestic troubles and frustrated with the need to manage crises in Europe that preclude him from being able to concentrate on the confrontation with China (Russiancouncil.ru, January 19).
Putin’s Blackmail-War in Ukraine Continues Under Diplomatic Cover – Jamestown
