On August 29th at a university in Moscow, Vladimir Putin observed that orcas feed on polar bears. “That’s the food chain(食物链),” Russia’s president stated. “Children should be taught about this, so that they understand what kind of world we live in and why we are conducting the special military operation(特别军事行动，俄对乌战争的官方委婉语)”—ie, Russia’s war on Ukraine. The claim was fanciful(想象的，不切实际的): there is no known case of an orca eating a polar bear. But it provided insight into the Russian president’s predatory(掠夺性的，捕食性的) worldview.
8月29日，在莫斯科一所大学，弗拉基米尔·普京指出虎鲸以北极熊为食。“这就是食物链，”俄罗斯总统称。“应该让孩子们了解这一点，以便他们明白我们生活在什么样的世界，以及我们为何开展特别军事行动”——即俄罗斯对乌克兰的战争。这一说法纯属臆想：目前尚无已知虎鲸捕食北极熊的案例。但这却让人窥见了这位俄罗斯总统的掠夺性世界观。
Recently NATO countries have become increasingly concerned about the direction Mr Putin’s thoughts are taking. Russia’s army has been largely stalemated(陷入僵局的) for years. The war has become a contest of drone and missile attacks that, while devastating(毁灭性的) to Ukraine, are damaging Russia too. But Mr Putin is not backing off. The worry is that he may try to escape from a tupik (dead end) as he has in the past: by finding some new way to escalate the conflict.(担忧在于他可能像过去一样，通过寻找新的升级方式来摆脱死胡同。)
近期，北约国家日益担忧普京的思想走向。俄罗斯军队多年来基本陷入僵局。战争已成为无人机和导弹袭击的较量，这些袭击虽对乌克兰造成毁灭性打击，但也同样损害俄罗斯。然而普京并未退缩。令人担忧的是，他可能会像过去一样，试图通过寻找某种新的升级冲突方式，来摆脱“死胡同”。
On August 25th John Ratcliffe, the director of America’s CIA, unexpectedly(意外地) flew to Moscow. Accounts differ on whether he went to warn Mr Putin not to attack NATO countries, or to deliver a bleak(黯淡的，无望的) assessment of Russia’s prospects and persuade him to negotiate. Three days later Finland requested the help of Swedish aircraft and warships in monitoring its border with Russia for incursion(入侵，侵犯)s. On September 1st Germany openly blamed Russia for a drone attack at Leipzig’s airport on August 4th, and imposed some trifling(微不足道的) sanctions. In late August Romania destroyed a Russian naval drone that targeted a drilling platform in its waters, and Slovakia foil(挫败，阻止)ed an arson attack on a drone factory.
8月25日，美国中情局局长约翰·拉特克利夫意外飞往莫斯科。关于他此行目的，说法不一：是去警告普京不要攻击北约国家，还是去传达对俄罗斯前景的悲观评估并说服他谈判。三天后，芬兰请求瑞典飞机和军舰协助监控其与俄罗斯的边境，以防入侵。9月1日，德国公开指责俄罗斯制造了8月4日莱比锡机场的无人机袭击，并实施了一些无关痛痒的制裁。8月底，罗马尼亚摧毁了一架针对其水域内钻井平台的俄罗斯海军无人机，斯洛伐克则挫败了一起针对无人机工厂的纵火袭击。