From a Wall Street Journal story by Alan Cullison headlined “Escalation of Ukraine War Effort Raises Risks to Russia’s Putin at Home and Abroad”:
MOSCOW—Russia is planning triumphant ceremonies and public rallies as President Vladimir Putin prepares to formally annex a broad, additional swath of neighboring Ukraine in the coming days.
The celebrations are set to echo the pomp and circumstance that accompanied Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula eight years ago, an event that Mr. Putin marked in the imperial grandeur of the Kremlin’s gilded St. George’s Hall.
Russia’s capture of Crimea was quick and nearly bloodless and vaulted Mr. Putin to new heights of popularity at home.
