Opinion

Nicholas Stuart | Vladimir Putin's referendum and conscription ploy change the dynamic in Ukraine war

Nicholas Stuart
September 26 2022 - 5:30am

Vladimir Putin's snap announcement that he will conduct referenda in four Ukraine regions changes everything. The results themselves will be unbelievable and meaningless: what they do reveal, however, is critical. The vaulting desire and mad calculation of the Russian dictator are now on full display. Despite failure on the battlefield and although his forces in the north have recoiled back to their start line, Putin will not accept that his forces have been defeated. He is, rather, doubling down on his ambition and insisting reality will not intrude inside the Kremlin's encircling walls.

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Nicholas Stuart

Nicholas Stuart is a Canberra writer.