spat
.700 Nitro Express
Or, just let them join NATO.I feel like he had no choice, His army wasnt ready to invade but he had to move before Ukraine was part of NATO. which they were going to vote on in a few months . It was now or never. Once Ukraine joined NATO he could never get NATO troops and missiles out ever. If he was going to stop them he had to do it now. Ready or not.
The only thing he had to lose was his ability to invade eventually.
I understand he has visions of reforming the Soviet Union, and Ukranian NATO membership would put an end to that, but his choice was to face reality that that's never going to happen, or do what he did and get half a million people killed over some muddy farmland.