in spite of all evidence to the contrary the empire evidently still thinks it can rule the world;

If there's a 'good cop, bad cop' routine happening at the Kremlin, mostly assuredly the role of bad cop always falls to Russia's former president, Dmitry Medvedev. In his maximalist and hyperbolic threats, he can be seen as the "John Bolton of the Kremlin". It is most often this top official who warns that Russia could go nuclear if red lines are crossed in Ukraine. But certainly his statements are calculated and approved by the Kremlin.

The current deputy chairman of the country's Security Council has once again issued a hardline threat aimed at Ukraine and its Western backers, warning that President Putin's newly ordered buffer zone in Ukraine could extend over almost the the whole of the country. "If military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.

He issued a map of the envisioned zone, covering practically all of Ukraine.

 View his automated map below:.......more......