Vladimir Putin, a thoroughly evil dictator ruling "his" country by oppression, threats, censorship, assassinations and incarceration of dissidents, usually comes across as intelligent -- the most scary kind of evil person. However, this time is different. For some reason, he has chosen an impossible lie as motivation for his unprovoked attack and attempted invasion of Ukraine. His claim that Ukraine is ruled by a junta of Nazis committing genocide on the Russian minority of the population is a tough sell, seeing how President Volodymyr Zelenko is a Jewish member of that Russian speaking minority and came to power through a democratic election just a few years ago.
If Putin hasn't lost his mind, he must be truly out of options. For his soldiers on the battlefield, the lie shatters as soon as they meet the fierce resistance from ordinary Ukrainians, and while they are on foreign territory, they can easily check out sources other than Russian state-controlled media and see that the world stands with Ukraine, and that Russia stands alone, with only a hint of weak support coming from China.
Vladimir Putin is not likely to survive this military campaign as the strong leader of Russia. He might not even survive it in the literal sense. One cannot help but wonder if he has decided to go out with a bang as a hero to some delusional people in his fan base rather than see his grip on power slowly slip and eventually fail.
