Cornered, Putin invokes nuclear arsenal

It’s not looking good for Sad Vlad these days, and he wants the world to know he’s not happy about it.  In a speech to the Russian nation – it was pre-recorded, and he hasn’t made one in some months – Putin raised the threat of using nuclear weapons against European nations that have, along with the U.S., provided a steady supply of conventional weapons to Ukraine.

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff,” Putin thundered. “I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction, and some components are more modern than those of the NATO countries.”  Putin appeared to be referring not only to the 6.6 million square miles of Russia itself, but also to the portions of eastern Ukraine Russia has seized and is in the process of annexing with a series of referendums to be held in the parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia.

Recent revelations of graves in a forest near Izyum are more evidence of murders of Ukrainian civilians during the Russian occupation of parts of Ukraine.  Military analysts responded to the discovery of the graves, along with the mass graves uncovered in Bucha, by concluding that mass murder and torture is “in the DNA of the Russian military,” according to one expert.  The citizens of Izyum would have been forced to participate in an upcoming “vote” to join the Russian Federation if Ukrainian forces had not liberated the city two weeks ago.