In some ways I think we are slowly moving towards something like World War II once again instead of another Cold War

 Only this time we have nuclear weapons which is the real problem here. Russia under Putin is very sensitive of NATO since the end of World War II. NATO was created specifically to protect Europe and the U.S. from Russia and China during the Cold War from 1945 until 1990. when the Soviet Union collapsed Putin has said, "The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest catastrophe of the 20th Century."

 Western powers that are democracies don't agree with this assessment. So, it's quite possible that Putin will believe that the only way to protect Mother Russia left is to use Nuclear weapons in the form of Tactical Nuclear weapons. The Use of Supersonic Missile technology gives hints of what his thinking is and where he is going. If he feels his army and militaries have become dysfunctional and ineffective, where can he turn except to higher and higher technology weapons like supersonic Cruise missiles and Tactical Nuclear weapons eventually. He isn't doing it now but eventually this might be where he is going to go if he remains in power in Russia.