I agree with Nemo, it's a response to Putin ramping up the war. I think the next 60 days will be the most dangerous ones as far as escalation. Remember in the Trump-Putin call earlier this month trump warned Putin not to escalate- which Putin has immediately done.
Biden is pushing the remainder of US aid through immediately, plus releasing restrictions which IMO should have been released 2 years ago. The odds of Russia downing 5/6 Atacams is remote considering their success at defending Russia from propeller driven drones so far, so I call BS on Russian claims.
Putin is probably close to desperate at this point. His economy is in a shambles, with the Russian Central Bank trying to desperately control inflation while their govt dumps more in equivalent dollars into their war drive than Biden has with his agendas. The Russian army has failed to meet their objectives, with their only long term success being to connect Crimea by land. Losses can only be covered up so long. If you're old enough to remember, it was the 20k losses in Afghanistan than was one of the major impetus leading to fall of the Soviet Union, and Russia's casualties are conservatively estimated to be around 750k. The fact that he had to ask for DPRK aid is telling. Factor in that they are rapidly losing influence in the central Asian republics and it really looks dim for poor old Vlad.
Trump recently stated that he would not abandon Ukraine, but probably shift from outright grants to lend-lease- at what I would expect to be favorable terms regarding resources from The Ukraine.
So, I expect something major from Russia using some BS excuse before Trump takes office. Once he's in office I think they will coerced into something like a fair settlement.
