Whilst the press pander to the “just shoot him” mental brigade who buy their newspapers, the tactics of the EU in maintaining and increasing financial pressure may be yielding results. The Economist reports that Russian society is peaking, and dissent increasing. There is a long way to go before that has a large impact, but will need careful handling to come to fruition. There is a large chunk. of Russian society – probably a large majority who will back the power grab that is Putins war with Ukraine. I suspect that in the UK there are at least 20%+ supporters of declaring war with Russia and sending troops, etc.. We have our own equivalents to Putin in the likes of Rees-Mogg and Johnson. People who will manipulate others to get their way.
Meantime Ukraine suffers most egregiously. Can we provide anti-missile defences? Can we support them to hold the line? OMG how awful it must be to be a general or politician who has to make these decisions (I do not include Johnson here as we know he has only himself in mind). For the Ukraine it will continue to be awful/horrendous, especially as the rest of the world will adapt to the loss of Ukrainian and Russian products. The cereal harvest will be the most testing – but a hike in meat and dairy products will reduce demand as alternatives are developed.