A “sober and calculating” person would never have entered into this conflict.

Putin seems to have an almost-religious perception of this situation. He views Ukraine as part of a “greater Russia”, and the post-Soviet reorganization that put Ukraine on a vector away from Russian influence as a great historical humiliation.

His comments about there being no point to a world without Russia in it (from 2018) and about the Russia/Ukraine split as an accident of history rather than a fact to be recognized (from last summer) are deeply disturbing.

Russia seems to be relatively weak in all dimensions but two: the ability to indiscriminately level a city and nuclear weapons.

Perilous times.