Putin aides indicate escalation

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 01 May 2022 by Alex Teddy
On April 28 Putin said there would be a lightning fast strike against any country that intervened to fight for Ukraine.One of the most powerful men in Russia, Nikolai Patrushev is secretary of the Security Council. He is from St Petersburg, like Putin, and is almost the same age. One April 29 he said that the USA wants to subjugate the world and plans to take away Russia's ''sovereignty, self-consciousness and culture.'' He said the US is promoting Nazism in Ukraine and accused the US of ruining European culture.Patrushev is one of the most bellicose of all. Some in security circles want the ''special military operation'' to be re-designated a war. This would justify calling up reserves. It is now recognized that the war will last months, if not years. But to call it a war and summon reservists would seem to admit that Plan A has failed. Patrushev said NATO is waging a proxy war against Russia. He accuses NATO of escalating it. He wants to create a command economy and freeze the West out economically.Presumably Putin authorized Patrushev to say this. Certainly Putin has not slapped him down. Is Patrushev ramping up the rhetoric because Putin does not want to do it himself? Indeed several key analysts consider Patrushev to be strategically in charge - a suggestion that would explain the last few months of significantly more radical decision-making in Russia.On April 26 the Russian Foreign Minister said that the West was risking World War III, which would certainly involve nuclear weapons. Since then, he has said he was misunderstood and it is NATO that is threatening a nuclear war.Escalatory rhetoric points to the war not going well for Russia. They want to scare the We...

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