He's 70, and the average Russian man only lives to 71.
He said something like, "The worst thing that has ever happened was the dissolution of the USSR".. He might think, "I'm going to die any year anyway, I'm going to be in the history books, though" and is in a corner where it's all or nothing.
https://www.patreon.com/LoyalOpposition

Putin probably won't last. He made a major strategic oversight. In the internet and social media age you cannot control information like you once could, so you can't control the people. Opposition is only going to grow inside of Russia.

He's just getting rid of his noobs. It's like battlefield. Ya see all the lvl 10s running into the gunfire like rambo while all the ogs stare from afar with the warmap.