if the russians had intelligent, capable leadership, they would have moved immediately to secure the areas east of the dnieper many years ago and then stopped there, at least for now. it's not what they want, but it would be pragmatic and realistic, and i would have accepted it. the world would have learned to live with it.

they don't have intelligent or capable leadership, and they're chasing foolish pipe dreams. the escalation was the weapons deal announced by donald trump, but the russians are not being smart in their response. 

the smart thing to do upon learning of the weapons deal would have been to bomb out the bridges on the dnieper and then to try to get there as soon as they could.