If Putin flattens Kyiv he would risk the uproar and outrage spurring NATO into action. Perhaps a no fly zone. It would be the final nail in his coffin. The butcher of Kyiv.
It’s hard to put anything past him at this point but he’s not a man accustomed to failure. The humiliation of defeat would not sit well.
Yeah, they have already committed atrocities (I listed them in my previous post) that should already secure some of the leaders the rope for war crimes in a more just society, but flattening Kyiv would be the absolute end for Putin and Russia.
Even the "newly green with Russian gas" Germany would probably say "Fuck you" and all of Europe and probably most other states would just hardline boycott/embargo Russia until it's completely broken. As it is, he already seems to have just Lukashenko and Kadyrov, two idiotic psychopaths... and that's it. Even China doesn't seem to be as supportive as it seemed.
Still, I wonder what the fuck is going on? Just yesterday I read in the Czech news that someone has reported on Putin's meeting with the corporate heads and oligarchs, explaining himself, sounding almost apologetic ("I had to... they forced my hand"). Today I read the message of some Russian ministry that if the abroad assets will be frozen (and a lot of them surely will be), the Russian banks will probably touch people's finances for support. Czech Sberbanks are already crumbling down, because hundreds of people want to close their accounts - the offices are closed, the internet banking doesn't work.
Like, what's his endgame? He attacked Ukraine, possibly earlier than he thought, he uses completely incompetent forces, for what it's worth he's suffering really shameful losses (especially comparing the countries and their armies), Ukraine is fighting back so much it will make the stuff of legends, he's becoming a complete pariah in the international scene... he's threatening Scandinavia, although Finland has already once shown that they won't be Russia's bitch... I wonder, where's the "profit"? Has he become completely insane, is he just that stupid or is there something I don't see?