One
of Vladimir Putin’s favorite childhood stories shows why Western
leaders are worried that setbacks in Ukraine may escalate a war that has
already killed thousands of people and displaced millions. As
the Russian president tells it, when he was a child he would chase rats
in his apartment building in Soviet-era Leningrad, now St. Petersburg.
Once he cornered a large one: It attacked him, causing him to flee in
shock. “That’s why everyone should remember, it’s better not to corner anyone,” he told a Russian TV interviewer in 2018. Key reading: Now
Putin is increasingly on the back foot. Ukrainian forces have largely
halted his assault, killing or wounding an estimated tens of thousands
of Moscow’s troops. And economic sanctions are beginning to hit hard. That’s raised concern that he may lash out even more dangerously. As Peter Martin
reports, officials in U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration say
Putin could resort to blanket bombing Ukrainian cities or using chemical
— or even tactical nuclear — weapons. The
concern isn’t unfounded: At the start of the war, Putin ordered his
nuclear forces to assume “special combat readiness” and Russian troops
have staged dangerous assaults around Ukrainian nuclear plants. U.S.
officials say there’s no evidence of Russian preparations for imminent
chemical or biological strikes, and the Kremlin denies such intentions.
NATO leaders pledged yesterday to step up their defenses and are
studying ways to retaliate if the need arises. And
Putin’s brinkmanship has worked to some extent: The aversion to a
potential nuclear conflict is a key reason why NATO won’t risk a direct
engagement with Russia’s military. But as
signs mount his invasion is stumbling, their worry is whether a cornered
Putin, like his childhood rat, will resort to a desperate move. — Michael Winfrey
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