But Russians losses have been especially heavy in recent weeks, with several hundred deaths every day on the battlefields of the east. Russia's warnings to the West against arming Ukraine have gone unheeded, with Western assurances of support for as long as it takes and pledges that Nato will never be divided. While cities such as Mariupol were flattened, details of war crimes have emerged against civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, and have led to an independent report that accused Russia itself of state-orchestrated incitement to genocide. The biggest success President Putin can lay claim to is establishing a land bridge from Russia's border to Crimea, annexed illegally in 2014, so it is no longer reliant on its bridge over the Kerch Strait. Maybe it takes longer for Russian forces to secure cities like Kyiv whose defenders fight from street to street. A succession of Western leaders, including President Joe Biden, have made the complex journey to Kyiv. Mr Putin could declare Western arms supplies to Ukrainian forces are an act of aggression that warrant retaliation. Unprecedented, supposedly game-changing US and EU sanctions will follow an invasion. Russia has now amassed more than 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine, ramping up tensions in a conflict that has dragged on since 2014. The war that erupted in eastern Ukraine in 2014 has already left 14,000 dead and an estimated 1.4 million displaced. If Russia did decide to invade Ukraine, the senior Western intelligence official said large numbers of people would be displaced. In 2014, however, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych rejected an agreement with the European Union. https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-is-putins-goal-in-ukraine.html led to mass protests through the country and he left office in that same year. International response – good and not so good news The territories have been armed, financed and politically controlled by Russia since 2014. But until this week, Russia still recognised them as part of Ukraine. The US and UK have not ruled out arming resistance fighters, as during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. British ministers predict a long-running “quagmire”, with Russia suffering significant casualties. “Active diplomacy, strong political messages, tough economic sanctions and strengthening Ukraine can still force Moscow to abandon aggressive plans,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. He denied accusations by Russia that Ukraine had engaged in military actions against its own citizens. About 10 civilians are believed to have been killed, including six in an air strike in Brovary near the capital Kyiv. A man was also killed in shelling outside the major eastern city of Kharkiv. Maps: Tracking the Russian Invasion of Ukraine President Putin could seek to regain more parts of Russia's former empire by sending troops into ex-Soviet republics like Moldova and Georgia, that are not part of Nato. Mr Putin could declare Western arms supplies to Ukrainian forces are an act of aggression that warrant retaliation. He could threaten to send troops into the Baltic states - which are members of Nato - such as Lithuania, to establish a land corridor with the Russian coastal exclave of Kaliningrad. Maybe Russian forces get bogged down, hampered by low morale, poor logistics and inept leadership. Maybe it takes longer for Russian forces to secure cities like Kyiv whose defenders fight from street to street. Neither Russia nor Ukraine give details of their own losses, so reliable numbers are extremely difficult. Moscow will now threaten Ukraine with a broader war if it continues to fight against the “separatists”, telling Kyiv that Russia is now obliged by treaty to defend them from attack. Russian military convoys have crossed from Belarus into Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, and from Russia into the Sumy region, which is also in the north, Ukraine's border guard service (DPSU) said. Once Putin rolled his tanks in, pro-Russian sentiment largely vanished. Hospitals, infrastructure, cultural treasures, private homes and industrial centres are either destroyed or pillaged, with stolen goods being sent to Russia in an organised manner. There is no U.S. or NATO consensus to insert their own combat forces into Ukraine. One reason may be fear that direct combat could lead to a wider European war, perhaps even risking a Russian nuclear threat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that in 2014 “we were ready” to put nuclear weapons on alert. In 2018, he showed a boastful video simulating a nuclear-armed missile attacking Florida. The United States and its allies may further reinforce NATO's eastern flank with major ground and air units. Compared to Cold War practice, today, Kremlin propagandists and officials engage in highly irresponsible rhetoric advocating for the use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal against Ukraine, and possibly even against NATO states. This is backed by exercises (at least two this year) openly testing the Russian military’s ability to fire nuclear warheads at Western targets and protect Russia from possible counter-strikes. The Russian president has even shown his willingness to bring Belarus into the nuclear equation. Such brinkmanship has contributed to the return of nuclear arms into the power competition on a global stage. He uses Russia's internal security forces to suppress that opposition. But this turns sour and enough members of Russia's military, political and economic elite turn against him.
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