New Delhi, Aug. 31 -- On August 29th, meeting with staff and students at a university in Moscow, Vladimir Putin observed that orcas feed on polar bears. "That's the food chain," 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"-his term for Russia's war on Ukraine.

The claim was fanciful: there is no known case of an orca eating a polar bear. But it provided some insight into Mr Putin's predatory worldview. Recently NATO countries have become increasingly concerned about the direction his thoughts might be taking. Russia's army has been largely stalemated for years, suffering tens of thousands of men killed or s...