Vladimir Putin is more dangerous than ever as he's "cornered like a rat" by the Ukrainian army, a political scientist has warned.
Professor Mark Galeotti said yesterday's vicious bombardment of Ukraine - which killed at least 19 people and wounded another 105 - demonstrates how desperate the beleagured tyrant is to claw back from his army's embarassing performance in recent weeks.
On Monday, missiles rained down on Ukraine in Moscow's biggest blitz since the initial invasion in February, and came just days after a suspected truck bomb blew off a huge section of Crimea's Kerch bridge, one of the tyrant's pet projects.
Though Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for the attack, Moscow has pinned the blame on Kyiv.
More than 80 cruise missiles and 24 drones were launched in a sustained 24-hour pounding, hitting targets which included museums, cultural heritage sites, and civilian residences in seven cities including the capital of Kyiv.
Sirens this morning have warned residents to prepare for a second day of shelling, with missile strikes registered before 8am BST in some cities.
The ferocity of the attacks represent a "psychological shift" in the mind of the leader - who, at home, has found himself pressed by a faction of hardliners urging him to launch tactical nuclear strikes in Ukraine.
Earlier in the war, Putin could have dreamed up any lie to prove Russia had won, but by annexing four Ukrainian regions last week, there's now no going back.
If Putin were to lose just one of the regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk or Donetsk to the Ukrainian army, he would be seen as "the Tsar who gave away Russian land instead of the strongman who restored the empire", Prof Galeotti told the MailOnline.
After extending the war into every Russian home by ordering the partial mobilisation of reservists on September 21, he has "made the catastrophic mistake of calling his own bluff."
Putin has been personally humiliated by the shocking "incompetence" of the Russian army and their repeated defeats on the battlefield, especially in the face of a modern and "highly-skilled" Ukrainian enemy.
Galeotti explained: "Battlefield failure reflects badly on Putin personally because he has built himself up as a warrior president despite having no military experience."
This self-design was once quietly mocked among Russian warriors, who he recalled saying: "I wouldn’t want a virgin telling me what to do on my wedding night."
Similar jibes against the once-macho president are now commonplace in Russia, Galleotti claims.
On the other hand, Putin now faces pressure from nationalists who demand a stronger, potentially nuclear, response to the defiant Ukrainian army that refuses to lose.
Galeotti said: "He is still a rational actor, for now. But anger, self-preservation, and political pressure could alter this."
"There are nightmare scenarios that he has so far kept locked away," he added.
"Now, cornered like the rat he once famously chased as a boy in a St Petersburg basement, he is unlocking them.
"The missile strikes yesterday were calculated to sow terror – Putin knows the only way he’s going to win is if he breaks Ukrainian resistance, or the West’s will to continue supporting Kyiv. We must brace ourselves for attacks nearer home."
Among the weapons in Putin's arsenal are his "cyber warfare trolls". Galeotti warned they could "disrupt the banking system", he tells the Mail.
The tyrant could also attempt to interrupt the supply of energy and food to the world, examples of which have already been seen throughout the war.
The attack on the Nord Stream gas pipe was a warning to the EU, UK and the West in general - a way of showing leaders the type of covert operations he can carry out in their back yard.
However, Galeotti believes that Putin's nuclear threats are "largely bluster" but said he could be pushed to push the button if Ukraine continues to mount attacks against Crimea.
"Putin could feel that he has nothing to lose, as losing the peninsula would finish him", Galleotti said, adding that Putin "running out of bluffs" should be "worrying for us all".
