Ukraine Invasion

Questions as of February 26th.

Several Questions about the Russia/Ukraine invasion that are pertinent to its understanding. (I have re-posted this on Big Ideas and Quora).

1. Having invaded the Ukraine, how far does Putin intend to go? Is the end point the overthrow of the current Administration in Kiev or something else and if overthrow is the aim what does he intend replacing Zelenskyy's administration with? A Moscow puppet? direct rule etc?

2. Is Biden going to 'up' the sanctions to the next level by hitting the Russians on the oil front and SWIFT (economic transaction system)? If not what is his strategy? Right now it hardly seems effective. If he claims that he knew about all this months ago why has it taken him so long to act? Will he eventually have to use the US military here and if he does the public have an appetite for it? Asking the average American to tighten their belts during a high inflation era will be hard sell. Protecting boundaries in the Ukraine when the US can't seem to do the same at home also smacks of hypocrisy.

3. Will NATO establish a no-fly zone over the Western Ukraine? What is their game? Does Europe even have the military strength to fight the Russians? Do they even want to? Are they going to rely on the US to do the dirty work for them?

4. How long can Europe hold out on the energy front v Russia? Looking at you Germany. Having embarked on reckless Green Energy initiatives they are more indebted now than ever on Russia to meet their shortfalls.

5. In what way will China gain from all of this? Moscow and Beijing have moved closer and the Chinese government can easily use their clout to undermine sanctions initiatives. Also will China use this as an opportunity to attack Taiwan? From their perspective it makes sense. Act when the iron is hot.

6. What factors are driving this war other than the obvious ones? Who stands to gain? Putin is certainly not alone here.