The article tells us Putin isn't crazy, but fails to actually provide what a feasible end game is for him. Let's not forget:
- He attacked without provocation a sovereign country with 44 million people that hate his guts
- In doing so, he's destroying the purchasing power of his own currency
- Nobody is buying Ural oil, which is one of their main exports
- They can't even open their own stock market because many companies will probably go to zero
- He's about to impose martial law because his citizens are getting pissed
- He has his fighters and bombers flying into various airspace just to piss people off
- Sits 30 feet away from his trusted leaders because he's afraid of them or their cooties
Seems pretty fucking crazy to me.
The end game for Putin is pretty straightforward and quite feasible:
1. Replace the current regime with a pro-Russians regime
2. Finalize the annexation of Crimea by forcing Ukraine to relinquish claim
3. Force Ukraine to acknowledge independence of the 2 people republics in the south
4. Bonus point if he can annex some parts of eastern Ukraine with significant pro-russain population
For me to classify him as crazy I think it should be clear that he wasn't aware of the consequences of his actions, just like in a textbook definition of crazy in a criminal case.
Some of the points you made above are just the costs he is willing to pay for the above goals. Whether that makes him crazy or not I think is debatable and not necessarily a forgone conclusion. Would a normal/stable leader of a western and liberal country accept those costs knowingly? never, but Putin/Russia is neither.
For the rest we need to remember the Tyrant/depots always have and always will have significant undelaying mental/psychological issues and conditions. A well balanced person does not become a tyrant, or stays one if he is.