So Putin’s real problem is that he needs to get laid?
Kiev population is 2,962,180 and covers 324sq miles (839 km2).
Good luck trying to completely surround that city. Kyiv - Wikipedia
That many people could put up one hell of a street fight. Even 20% of the population is almost 600k.
We could try your idea first, then go to a political killing if he doesn’t calm down.
I think it was Richard Pryor who said in a routine, ‘Ain’t nobody’s ever been mad coming.’
My wife and I are convinced ( without any analysis, more just hit feel/opinion) that we’ll see NATO in Ukraine by the end of March.
Except maybe as peacekeepers in some sort of settlement or to assist in the clean up, I don’t think so. If you mean giving tons of aid, both military and economic then we are already seeing that and I fully expect it to increase. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there are some new members of NATO in that time frame…or at least more firm indications that there will be some new members fairly soon.
That is a big deal.
Turkey is a NATO Ally. Crossing paths with them comes with consequences.
i think you will see a lot of “civil defense consultants” there … some of which might moonlight for NATO …
but my guess is they will be in jeans/sweatshirt (plausible deniability) … as Ukraine is a democratic country and thus free to contract weapons systems and training as needed.
but yes, I have a feeing that a lot of very modern western arms will start pouring into ukraine, and ukraine will become some sort of a euro/uk/us weapon’s proxy …
tuff times ahead for the russians … we already see what committed ukrainian fights can do with javelins…
If Ukraine actually falls, I’ve also wondered if various NATO spec ops assassination teams will be operating in civvies out of Poland, crossing the border, spending a couple of days in Ukraine, capping a few Russian leaders, and then returning to Poland until the next mission.
Do the Russian’s have forces in Syria that Putin thought he could spare during this not such a cakewalk after all? Assad wouldn’t be happy to see them get jerked away.
I think NATO has a few too many cooks in the kitchen to agree to any off the books missions like that.
We’re the Good Guys™. We don’t do that. 
Russian soldiers temporarily left their MT-LB amphibious armored vehicle on a dirt road. Local villagers hooked it up to a tractor and towed it away! The Russians tried to chase them down but failed. (video at Twitter link)
I was watching some talking head mentioning that Ukraine has proven that they have earned a place in NATO
Well, it was in violation of local parking laws, and they were doing their civic duty…
It’s stuff like this, whether real or made up, that is really making the Russians look bad. I mean, if you can laugh at them over stuff like this, or find it plausible, it’s already eroding the Russian image that Putin wants everyone to have…and eroding the fear he’s trying so desperately to engender.
IMHO, they did that when they started internal reforms and going after corruption, as well as their democratic system. But then, the real reason they weren’t allowed in was fear, fear of the Russians being pissed off that NATO was expanding into what Russia thinks is theirs by right Since Ancient Times(tm…arr to the CCP)…
They should know better than to park their amphibious vehicle in a bad neighbourhood. Everyone knows it’s a cinch it’ll stolen!
The European subsidiaries of Russia’s state-owned bank are about to collapse.
Love the first comment on twitter:
“Needs Benny Hill music”
when this is over, NATO will apply for Ucrainian membership