This feels like a game being played in real time with the end game in world domination. Some have said Putin has become erratic and sometimes speaks nonsensical. I'm wondering if this seemingly sudden land grab be exacerbated by a rush to get it done before it's too late? By that I mean Putin may be pressed for time now due to some unforseen time limit for him to act? An illness? He is, in fact, approaching 70, a time when many of us become subject to an array of age related maladies, some debilitating, some degenerative and some terminal.
If this is so, he would care not about sanctions that affect long term. He cares more perhaps about going down in infamy before he goes out!