Journalist Reveals Putin's Playbook: 'Do As I Say Or Suffer'

Russian President Vladimir Putin is resorting to threatening "terrifying violence" to achieve his goal in Ukraine, according to British journalist and writer John Sweeney.

Speaking in an interview with CNN, "Killer in the Kremlin" author Sweeney said Putin's playbook revolves around "generating fear" to get what he wants.

"What he's doing is trying to generate fear. That is his playbook: 'Do not mess with me. Do as I say or you will suffer,'" Sweeney said, adding: "He's pathologically enthralled to violence and to threats, and he threatens again and again and again."

The author also added that Putin is resorting to threatening "terrifying violence" in an effort to draw attention away from Russia's massive military losses and failure to capture the capital city of Kyiv and the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

While the Kremlin has yet to release an official military death toll, Russia has lost an estimated 42,640 military personnel since the war began in February, according to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Sweeney's interview comes after Maj. Gen. Valerii Vasyliev, the commander of the Russian garrison stationed at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, on Monday threatened to blow up the nuclear plant should they lose the war in Ukraine.

"There will be either Russian land or a scorched desert," Vasiliev said, according to Energoatam, Ukraine's state nuclear agency. "The enemy knows that the station will be either Russian or no one's. We are ready for the consequences of this step."

The threat is the latest indication that the war between Russia and Ukraine could be headed toward a nuclear conflict.

In addition to the threats, the Russian army also shelled the Zaporizhzhia power plant twice on Aug. 5, causing damage to critical nuclear infrastructures and radiation sensors. The shelling also continued throughout the weekend, with one attack striking "near one of the power units where the nuclear reactor is located," Energoatam said in a Telegram post, as translated by The Daily Beast.

The Zaporizhzhia power plant fell to Russian control in March and has since been used as a base to launch artillery weapons at other Ukrainian-controlled locations.