Where is Putin's mind at?

Latvia’s defense minister throws out a few ideas

Balanced? Just about. Photo by Deniz Altindas on Unsplash

After the bombing of Mariupol Hospital in Ukraine — all those heartbreaking images of the children and maternity wards — there is growing fear about the state of Vladimir Putin’s mind. What is the Russian leader thinking? How manic is he exactly about reconstructing the sphere of Soviet influence? What should we be fearing and how much should we fear?

These concerns are particularly heightened at this point in the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They were once part of the Soviet sphere of influence. They joined Nato and the European Union 18 years ago (and that perfidy, as a manic Russian neo-czar might see it!) mean they could be sitting ducks in Mr Putin’s shooting war.

Latvia’s defense minister Artis Pabriks recently addressed this issue head on, as well as Mr Putin’s unpredictability. It’s chilling to consider how seriously Mr Pabriks takes the Russian president’s 10-day-old threat to use nuclear weapons. Two an…