These are very complex questions that will almost certainly be the subject of dissertations/books once this is all over. I’ve read a lot and I don’t feel remotely qualified to give a good answer to either of them, but I doubt you’ll find anyone here that is. Take anything you read with a grain of salt, especially if it isn’t from someone with an extensive academic background.

For the first one: I think this all comes down to Putin and his mental state. There is, of course, a ton of historical factors (both recent and ancient) that influenced Putin’s thinking, but it ultimately was his decision. Speculating on the mental state of a single individual during a decision of this magnitude is always difficult, and it’s especially hard for someone as secretive as Putin.

Second question is just as complicated. Here’s an article from 2017 that I think gives the best answer you’ll find (again, take this with a grain of salt): https://grantpa.com/russia-verge-nervous-breakdown/

For extra fun, you can name your variables using solely Unicode invisible characters (e.g. non-breaking space) so they’re impossible to visually distinguish