With a stalemate in Ukraine and discontent at home, Putin seems ready to escalate his war
Associated Press
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FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, rear center, attends a ceremony to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP, File)FILE - Smoke rises in the aftermath of a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Zoya Shu, File)FILE - A commercial building burns after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)FILE - Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova, center right, stands by citizens holding portraits of what they say were victims of a Ukrainian drone strike in Starobilsk in the Russia-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine, on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov, File)FILE - A firefighter tries to extinguish a blaze at a commercial building hit by a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, rear center, attends a ceremony to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP, File)