Putin seen as more dangerous as Russian-Ukraine war turns sour

Russian President Vladimir Putin is becoming more dangerous and desperate as he faces growing pressure at home over the flailing war effort in Ukraine, observers of the conflict and Moscow say.

Putin in the last week has renewed his threats of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine and moved to annex territories from Ukraine, while arguing attacks on that territory would amount to an attack on Russia.

His government is also suspected in leaks to a pipeline under the Baltic Sea that carries fuel to Europe, although the gas flow was earlier suspended.

The new threats come after a mobilization effort of 300,000 reservists in Russia, announced in response to criticism of Putin’s war effort, received blowback across the country. Images of lines of cars seeking to get across the border into neighboring states have circulated, underscoring internal tensions over the war.