"Vladimir Putin is an old man scared of death trying to turn back time.
Ukraine and Ukrainians are as his blood sacrifice. His
invasion of their country is his attempt to forestall his personal, inevitable demise.
As we grow older, death becomes harder to ignore. As it approaches it’s natural to want to reverse time. We become nostalgic, a little bitter about the present. As death closes in we commit silly acts to prove we are still young. We try, a little comically, to thumb our nose against the inevitable. Dodge reality.
But a dictator with limitless power, who has been in power so many decades he thinks he can do anything, who has murdered and imprisoned anyone who told him the truth, that sort of dictator, thinks he can take on time itself.
Putin fears death—like any 69-year-old. His fear, however, is particularly acute. He makes (or so the consistent rumour goes) visiting officials submit faeces test to ensure they are disease free. Since COVID-19, officials have to
isolate several days before they see him. Those who don’t, like the
visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, are seated down the other end of an absurdly long table. Is Putin immune-compromised? Maybe. He’s clearly petrified and paranoid of death. His extreme botox treatments, which gives his skin the look of melting wax, are yet another desire to turn back the clock."
To understand Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, we have to see that he's an aging dictator acting out his death wish
time.com