Bill True, the Independent's Middle East correspondent, described Russian President Vladimir Putin as reckless, tyrannical, surrounded by submissive men, and that he had much in common with the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The writer commented that this was the case for Gaddafi, who - after decades also of being surrounded by terrified and sycophant men - seemed in the end to really believe in the nonsense he was saying, and was so detached from reality that he made impulsive and insane decisions, and at the last moments could not understand what was going on around him.
She stated that - from her experience covering the bloody and horrific invasion of Ukraine - she could not help but worry that something similar was happening in Russia, not because it meant that the Russian president was mentally ill, but after decades of people being afraid to stand up to him or exposing them to extreme danger with criticism. His movements, and because of the subservient men around him, Putin appears in many ways detached from reality, which is why he feels overconfident, reckless and angry.
Surrounding tyrannical rulers with submissive and domineering men is a deadly combination, and this may be what has been happening in the Kremlin all these years, and this will have dire consequences for Russia due to harsh global sanctions
The writer saw that Putin is completely isolated, as it appears these days that he issues all his orders from the edges of large tables, and flashes of this appeared in the reprimand he addressed to the intelligence chief shortly before launching the largest ground invasion in Europe since World War II.
The author considers this a danger of isolated tyrants who are only told by those around them what they want to hear, but who still retain full power to act on it and shoot civilians.
She concluded her article by saying that surrounding autocratic rulers with submissive and domineering men is a deadly combination, and this may be what has been happening in the Kremlin all these years, and this will have dire consequences for Russia due to harsh global sanctions.
But the worst affected, of course, is Ukraine, whose citizens are paying with their blood for this pointless and needless invasion.