Putin is Preparing to Open a New Front in the North

Ukrainian troops on the Belarusian border. Courtesy press service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

An old Russian saying goes ‘Russia has two problems: Fools and bad roads.’ В Росси́и две пробле́мы: дураки́ и доро́ги

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is, presumably, no fool.

Foolish? Yes.

But I think he knows what he’s doing and who he’s doing it with.

One Putin ally, Belarusian dictator and part-time Mr. Whipple impersonator Aleksandr Lukashenko, has allowed Putin to use Belarus as a staging ground for attacks into Ukraine.

Now, Putin may be preparing to open a new front against Ukraine — an attack from the north that would, presumably, take pressure off Russia’s troops in the south.

Or it could be a bluff; just a way for Russia to force Ukraine to worry about its northern border and divert Ukrainian resources away from the real prize: the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and a land bridge to Crimea.

But I don’t think it’s a bluff.

Here’s why:

A group of Russian generals just landed in Belarus

According to both open source and Ukrainian intelligence, last Thursday, a Russian Air Force’s Tu-154M passenger jet landed in Minsk.

Later that day, a government VIP-plane operated by the Special Flight Detachment…