Again, purposely mocking Putin's birthday seems focused a lot more on targeting him than on influencing his supporters. Yeah, it's not new, but rarely taken to this extent by people in positions of authority, especially in cases where total destruction/elimination of the foe isn't a realistic option.
There have also been numerous conflicts where top officials openly avoided such personal shots because they considered it counterproductive to securing an end to the war.
You've reversed the argument. If twitter trolling targeted directly at Putin is immaterial to his actions, then why do it?
And he's a vain man who cares deeply about his image, with the timing of the attacks and the taunts being sent by high-level Ukrainian officials quite openly targeting him personally. Assuming it will have zero impact on his actions, not even a subconscious one, isn't exactly a secure bet.
The goals are for Putin to give up and pull all his troops, not use nukes, and commit to a peace agreement that restores Ukrainian territorial sovereignty. I'm just not seeing this social media shyt as contributing positively towards those goals. Not saying, "this is the straw that breaks the camel's back", just saying its not productive.
And no serious reader of history would claim that personal insults don't have an impact on the decision of world leaders. Warfare is rife with people in power making rash choices due to personal affronts, percieved slights, and a belief in the need to maintain one's honor or keep from looking weak in front of your populace.
“ I kinda get where you’re going…but these tweets ain’t that
