Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian adventure appears to be succeeding — for the moment. There are pockets of fierce resistance, according to the Ukrainian defense ministry, but otherwise, the invasion is proceeding.
One of those pockets of resistance is in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone — the area surrounding the nuclear plant that experienced the worst nuclear accident in history.
“National Guard troops responsible for protecting the storage unit for dangerous radioactive waste are putting up fierce resistance,” said Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister. Should an artillery shell hit the storage unit, Mr. Herashchenko said, “radioactive dust could cover the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and the countries of the European Union.”
Joe Biden is scheduled to speak to the nation at 12:30 p.m. EST and he’s currently engaged in a teleconference with the so-called Group of 7 — the seven largest economies in the world — no doubt planning a coordinated response to Putin’s naked aggression.
Putin believes that bluster and threats will make Biden and NATO appear weak.
In a rambling speech early Thursday, full of festering historical grievances and accusations of a relentless Western plot against his country, Mr. Putin reminded the world that Russia “remains one of the most powerful nuclear states” with “a certain advantage in several cutting edge weapons.”
In effect, Mr. Putin’s speech, intended to justify the invasion, seemed to come close to threatening nuclear war.
In the context of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, Mr. Putin said, “there should be no doubt that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country.”
Putin has gone full commie in resurrecting the old Soviet paranoid conspiracy theory about a Western “plot” against Russia. Millions of Russians were put to death or sent to Gulags because of those bogus claims of “plots” against the old Soviet Union.
The point isn’t that it’s a totally bogus charge. The point is that the Russian people remember what happened to ordinary citizens who didn’t toe the line and will thus be suitably cowed.
Putin’s nuclear threats are unnecessary. Not one single NATO country has made any suggestion about defending Ukraine with NATO troops. The blood-chilling threats suggest either that Putin is either trying to show how weak and ineffective NATO is or that the Russian president has lost touch with reality and is seeing enemies in every shadow and around every corner.
The Pentagon now believes that Russian forces are moving into the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in order to decapacitate the government. No doubt the government of President Zelensky has made contingency plans on where to go in case there’s an effort to destroy the government. But it almost certainly will be outside of Ukraine. With 190,000 Russian troops overrunning the country, there’s going to be no safe place to hide.
As for NATO, they are, as expected, spinning their wheels.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described Russia’s assault as a “deliberate, cold-blooded and long-planned invasion” that represents a “blatant violation of international law.”
He said leaders of NATO’s 30 member countries would gather virtually on Friday to discuss the way forward following Russia’s military assault. NATO partners Finland and Sweden will join the summit, as will European Union leaders, he said.
Mr. Stoltenberg said NATO on Thursday activated its defense plans, a previously established set of guidelines that give military commanders additional authority to deploy forces where needed, within specified limits, and enables the alliance to move forces more quickly.
Joe Biden has failed to stop Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine and effecting regime change. From that failure will flow consequences that will be both short and long term.
An economic rupture between Russia and the west will also have serious economic consequences for Europe and the US. Even before this conflict broke out, energy prices were soaring. If Russia cuts off gas supplies to Europe, then consumers and industry will suffer badly. The direct effects will be felt most heavily in those countries that are most dependent on Russian gas — in particular Germany and Italy. But the whole of the western world could be tipped into recession and inflation. And western political leaders are much more vulnerable to public opinion than Putin.
Although Nato has made it clear that it intends to stay out of the war in Ukraine, there is a risk that the conflict could expand. One scenario that western leaders are concerned about is that the Russian air force may chase the Ukrainians into Polish airspace. That could lead to direct clashes between the Russians and Poland, a Nato member. Russian air strikes could also kill Americans or Europeans still resident in Ukraine, increasing pressure on their governments to respond.
The additional sanctions Biden is announcing today could have been imposed a month ago when it became clear that Putin was going to war. We’ll never know if those severe strictures on the Russian economy might have caused Putin to step back from the brink.
But not even trying marks Biden in history as a gutless coward who allowed a dictator to get the best of him and the U.S.
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