It also implied at least tacit Chinese backing for the Russian invasion of Ukraine that occurred just a few days later. Not least among them are using the Ukraine war to draw down Western military stockpiles and taking advantage of Moscow’s relative loss of influence in Central Asia. Notably, recently leaked Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) documents indicate Moscow’s growing concern over Chinese espionage targeting Russian military, scientific, and geopolitical assets. At this stage, the key question is whether, when and how Putin intends to end his assault on Ukraine. In the years since Churchill wrote about the dangers for and from dictators in riding a tiger, others have used the same analogy.